Armando Ruben Aleman, Embezzlement, Texas 2013

McAllen, Texas - A former bank employee has been sentenced to federal prison for stealing nearly $190,000 from a deceased client's account.

Armando Ruben Aleman, 28, of Weslaco, was ordered to 12 months in federal prison without parole, followed by two years of supervised release.

Aleman pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement on March 27, 2013, admitting he stole the funds from the BBVA Compass Bank account of a deceased customer while he was employed at the bank.

The stolen funds were withdrawn as cash and forged cashier's checks in the deceased client's name, and then transferred into an account Aleman opened at Chase Bank using a stolen identity.

Aleman managed to spend and transfer to himself more than $70,000 from the fraudulently-opened Chase account before his scheme was discovered and the bank froze the account.

Aleman was also ordered to pay $61,772 in restitution to the bank, the remaining amount that was unrecovered from the stolen funds.

The case was investigated by the Secret Service with the assistance of the FBI, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Sully.

Aleman will be permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The victim, an heir to the deceased bank customer, spoke in court, stating that while he harbored no resentment towards Aleman, the defendant had brought the consequences of his crime upon himself through his actions.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdtx/pr/former-employee-sentenced-federal-prison-stealing-bank