Former Bank Employees Admit Embezzlement

Richard S. Hartunian, United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, and George L. Piro, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Albany Division-Federal Bureau of Investigation, make the following announcement:

Megan Horton, 54, of Owego, Tioga County, New York; and Gwenn Gooding, 43, also of Owego, Tioga County, New York, pled guilty today in United States District Court to the felony crime of bank embezzlement. Shannon Moore, 38, of Athens, Bradford County, Pennsylvania, previously pled guilty on December 21, 2012, in United States District Court to a similar felony crime of bank embezzlement. Horton, Gooding, and Moore were former employees of Chemung Canal Trust Company Bank (CCTC), located at 203 Main Street, Owego, New York.

In their pleas before Senior United States District Court Judge Thomas J. McAvoy, Horton, former branch manager; Gooding, former head teller; and Moore, a former teller, admitted that, between December 2004, and September 2011, they embezzled large sums of money from CCTC. Horton admitted stealing more than $200,000; Gooding admitted stealing more than $100,000; and Moore admitted stealing more than $25,000. The embezzlement was uncovered as a result of an audit of the CCTC bank branch following the Southern Tier flooding in September 2011.

Horton, Gooding, and Moore each face a maximum sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment and a maximum fine of $1 million. Moore is scheduled to be sentenced on April 23, 2013; Gooding is scheduled to be sentenced on May 4, 2013; and Horton is scheduled to be sentenced on May 7, 2013.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Albany Field Division, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas P. Walsh. Further inquiries may be directed to the United States Attorney’s Office, Binghamton branch office, at (607) 773-2887.