Former Credit Union Teller And Co-Conspirator Sentenced To Federal Prison For Bank Fraud And Identity Theft

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – October 1, 2019 – Nicole C. Walker, 40, of Clarksville, Tennessee, was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court to three years in prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, announced U.S. Attorney Don Cochran for the Middle District of Tennessee.  LaToya Chambers, 43, of Nashville, Tennessee, also charged in this case, was sentenced in August to 30 months in prison.  Both pleaded guilty earlier this year.  U.S. District Judge Eli J. Richardson also ordered the defendants to pay $84,416.00 in restitution.

Chambers, a former teller at NGH Credit Union, (now Cornerstone Financial Credit Union) and Walker were indicted on December 19, 2018, after an investigation determined that Chambers had used her position to obtain personal identifying information of credit union customers.  During their plea hearings, Chambers and Walker admitted that from March 2018 through July 2018, Chambers shared the personal information that she had obtained with Walker, who used the identities to make fraudulent withdrawals from the victims’ credit union accounts without their knowledge. Chambers and Walker divided the proceeds of many of the fraudulent transactions between themselves. Several of the credit union customers were elderly and had accumulated assets.  According to court records, the financial institutions involved in these transactions lost over $80,000.   Walker also used some of the stolen identities to conduct other personal transactions outside of the credit union.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher C. Sabis.  This case is supported by the Department of Justice’s Elder Justice Initiative, which coordinates the Department’s activities combatting elder abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation.  This case is a product of the Elder Justice Task Force of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee.  For more information about the Department’s Elder Justice Initiative and the Elder Justice Task Force, see https://www.justice.gov/elderjustice/ and https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdtn/elder-justice-task-force .

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