Gloucester County, New Jersey, Woman Sentenced To 33 Months In Prison For $600,000 Embezzlement/Money Laundering Scheme
CAMDEN, N.J. – A Gloucester County, New Jersey, woman was sentenced today to 33 months in prison for embezzling more than $600,000 from dormant TD Bank customer accounts, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
Telisha Trent, 43, of Williamstown, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb to an information charging her with one count of bank fraud and one count of money laundering. Judge Bumb imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From Aug. 9, 2014, through Sept. 11, 2015, Trent used her position as a financial services representative and bank teller at a TD Bank branch in Sewell, New Jersey, to identify dormant checking and savings accounts, primarily held by elderly TD Bank customers. Trent would research the account holder in order to assess the risk of whether the account holder would notice that the funds in the account were removed. She would steal the money in the dormant account by transferring the funds to accounts she controlled or have a cashier’s check issued in her name.
Trent then transferred the funds through a series of accounts that she controlled in order to hide her fraud. To avoid detection, Trent closed the dormant accounts. Trent admitted obtaining $608,000 in cash from eight TD Bank customers in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Ohio. She admitted to spending the money on home renovations, lavish trips, two BMW sedans, items for her children, and other items.
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After the fraud was discovered, TD Bank reimbursed the victims for the money and funds stolen by Trent.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Bumb sentenced Trent to five years of supervised release and ordered to pay $608,483 in restitution.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI’s South Jersey Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael Harpster in Philadelphia, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.
The government is represented by R. Stephen Stigall, U.S. Attorney in Charge of the Camden Office.
Defense counsel: James Conley Esq., Haddon Heights, New Jersey
