February 25, 2008

FORMER BANK TELLER PLEADS GUILTY TO EMBEZZLING OVER $200,000 FROM WACHOVIA BANK

United States Attorney John L. Brownlee announced today that Cynthia Taylor Carpenter, age 46, of Rustburg, Virginia, has pled guilty to embezzling over $200,000 from Wachovia Bank between January 2003 and February 2006.

“Ms. Carpenter used her position with Wachovia Bank to steal over $200,000 from bank customers,” U.S. Attorney John L. Brownlee said today. “I want to thank all the agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation that worked hard on this case and were able to bring this defendant to justice.”

Carpenter pled guilty to one count of embezzlement by a bank employee. She admitted in Federal Court in Lynchburg, today, that between January 2003 and February 2006, while employed as a teller at Wachovia Bank, she stole over $200,000 from a variety of bank customers and converted the funds to her own use.

The maximum penalty faced by Carpenter is 30 years imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $1,000,000.

The investigation of this case was conducted by the Lynchburg Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the United States Attorney’s Office, Western District of Virginia. Assistant United States Attorney Jennie L. M. Waering and Special Assistant United States Attorney Brooklyn Sawyers will prosecute the case.