Canton Financial Advisor Charged with Bank Fraud
| U.S. Attorney’s Office June 29, 2011 |
A federal grand jury returned a two-count superseding indictment charging Vicki L. Perchinske, age 52, of Canton, Ohio, with bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
The superceding indictment charges that between on or about December 8, 2004, until on or about September 9, 2010, Perchinske, then employed as a financial advisor for First Merit Bank in North Canton, Ohio, executed and attempted to execute a scheme and artifice to defraud First Merit Bank and to obtain approximately $535,017.44 from First Merit Bank by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises.
The superseding indictment charges that Perchinske made various fraudulent withdrawals from First Merit Bank accounts of elderly customers without authorization. The superseding indictment also charges that Perchinske fraudulently submitted liquidation and distribution request forms to Allstate Life Insurance Company, AIG and Oppenheimer Funds containing forged signatures of elderly customers, and then converted the proceeds to her personal use.
If convicted, Perchinske’s sentence will be determined by the court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
The superseding indictment was presented to the grand jury by Assistant United States Attorney Robert W. Kern and Special Assistant United States Attorney Jason Katz. This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the North Canton Police Department, and First Merit Bank Corporate Security in Akron, Ohio.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.