FORMER BANK EMPLOYEE PLEADS GUILTY TO EMBEZZLEMENT

(CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas) – Guadalupe Cisneros Garza, 40, has pleaded guilty to embezzlement by a bank employee, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today. At a hearing before U.S. District Judge Harry Lee Hudspeth, Garza admitted that while she was employed by Falfurrias State Bank in Falfurrias, Texas, she stole approximately $27,000 in cash.

Beginning as a teller in 1998, Garza was employed by Falfurrias State Bank for approximately six years and assumed bank vault responsibilities in June 2004. One day in December 2004, while Garza was occupied with other matters, another employee began to fill out the balance sheet to account for the cash in the vault, a job usually preformed by Garza. The other employee later observed Garza crossing out several cash totals on the balance sheet which were already recorded and substituting new amounts. This unusual behavior was reported and a full bank vault audit was conducted, revealing a shortfall of $27,000 dollars. A review of the vault records showed Garza must have known exactly how much cash was missing each day in order to fill out the balance sheet with the amount of cash that should have been in the vault rather than the amount actually present.

Garza faces up to thirty years imprisonment, a fine of up to $1,000,000 and up to five years of supervised release for the embezzlement. Sentencing was delayed until January 2008 to allow for the completion of a presentence investigation report. She is currently out on a $50,000 unsecured bond.

The case was investigated by FBI agents and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert D. Thorpe Jr.

 

###