By Carl Hessler Jr. JRC staffNORRISTOWN – “Trusty,” Harleysville Savings Bank’s canine mascot, probably isn’t very happy.
That’s because an assistant manager at a bank branch allegedly “violated a trust” and stole at least $90,000 from the bank’s accounts, according to court papers.
Jennifer Michelle McDermott, 37, of the 1200 block of Red Hill Road, Upper Hanover, waived her arraignment in Montgomery County Court on charges of theft by unlawful taking or disposition, theft by deception, receiving stolen property, theft by failure to make required disposition of funds received and forgery in connection with alleged incidents that occurred while she was employed as an assistant manager at the banking institution’s Franconia branch.
“This is a small community bank. She violated a trust,” county Assistant District Attorney Tracey Potere alleged. “You put your money in a bank and you expect bank employees to be looking out for your interests, not stealing your money.”
“You hear about bank robberies, outsiders coming in and stealing your money. You don’t expect an insider to take your money, especially somebody in such a high position, somebody you would trust,” Potere added.
By waiving her upcoming Oct. 18 arraignment, McDermott will not have to appear before a judge for a formal reading of the charges lodged against her. McDermott pleaded not guilty to the charges as part of the arraignment proceedings, according to court papers. The case will now be listed for trial.
McDermott, who previously waived her preliminary hearing on the charges before District Court Judge Kenneth E. Deatelhauser, remains free on her own recognizance bail pending her next court hearing.
Contacted Wednesday, Christopher P. Mullaney, the lawyer who represents McDermott, declined to comment on the matter at this time.
But court documents indicate an investigation of McDermott began in July after the grandson of a deceased man determined that his grandfather’s bank account had been closed without his knowledge about a year ago.
The grandson, who was executor of his grandfather’s estate, had gone to Harleysville Savings Bank to transfer his grandfather’s bank account to an estate account when he learned about the alleged theft. The grandfather was in a nursing facility at the time the bank account was closed and under medication, according to an arrest affidavit.
Bank officials cooperated with police during the investigation.
The investigation determined McDermott allegedly wrote two checks, one for $50,000 and another for $40,000, from the dead man’s account and deposited or transferred the checks into her personal account at another banking institution, according to authorities and court documents.
“The bank officials confronted Jennifer about the incidents and (she) admitted her involvement in the compromised account and admitted to two other accounts that were compromised,” Franconia Detective George H. Moyer III alleged in the criminal complaint.
Additional information about the accounts that were compromised was not contained in court documents.
However, court documents indicate bank officials told authorities the information they gleaned during the investigation was “disturbing.”
If convicted of all the charges at trial, McDermott faces a possible maximum sentence of 24 to 48 years in prison.
Labels: 000, Upper Hanover bank theft $90
