Telisha Trent Gets 33 Months for $608K Bank Heist

Gloucester County woman Telisha Trent, 43, of Williamstown, New Jersey, was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison for stealing $608,483 from dormant TD Bank accounts, primarily belonging to elderly customers. The heist, which ran from August 2014 to September 2015, exploited her role as a financial services rep and bank teller at a Sewell, New Jersey branch.

Trent used her access to identify inactive checking and savings accounts, then researched the elderly account holders to determine which victims were least likely to notice the theft. Once targeted, she siphoned funds by transferring them to accounts she controlled or by having cashier’s checks issued in her name—clearing out $608,000 in total from eight customers across New Jersey, Connecticut, and Ohio.

After each theft, Trent laundered the money through a series of her own accounts and closed the original dormant accounts to cover her tracks. She admitted in court to spending the stolen cash on luxury items including two BMW sedans, extensive home renovations, lavish vacations, and high-end purchases for her children.

U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb handed down the sentence in Camden federal court, where Trent had previously pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of money laundering. In addition to prison time, she was sentenced to five years of supervised release and ordered to pay full restitution of $608,483.

TD Bank reimbursed all victims after the fraud was uncovered, absorbing the financial blow while federal investigators from the FBI’s South Jersey Resident Agency followed the money trail. The probe was conducted under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael Harpster in Philadelphia.

The case was prosecuted by R. Stephen Stigall, U.S. Attorney in Charge of the Camden Office, with defense representation provided by James Conley, Esq. of Haddon Heights, New Jersey. Trent’s betrayal of trust at a major financial institution underscores the vulnerability of elderly bank customers to insider fraud.