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Press Release

Mason Woman, Megan Kolberg, Sentenced To 27 Months' Imprisonment For Embezzling From Mason State Bank Over Several Years

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Michigan

Megan Kolberg Stole Over $100K and Repeatedly Lied that an Armed Bank Robber Had Stolen the Money

          GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN — United States Attorney Patrick A. Miles, Jr., announced today that Megan Kolberg, age 37, of Mason, Michigan, was sentenced to 27 months’ imprisonment in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan by the Honorable Robert J. Jonker, Chief U.S. District Court Judge. In sentencing her to prison at the top of the sentencing guideline range, Judge Jonker noted that her embezzlement lasted for several years and her concealment of the offense brought other individuals into harm’s way as potential subjects of the investigation.

          The Judge adjourned a final determination of restitution for ninety days, but noted that Kolberg will be ordered to pay $131,580.00 to Mason State Bank and its insurers. Kolberg admitted to embezzling over $130,000.00 from Mason State Bank’s Cedar Street branch between December 2009 and May 21, 2013, where she worked as a teller. She regularly embezzled cash from the bank and concealed her embezzlement by making false entries in the bank’s books and records. On May 21, 2013, as bank officials and law enforcement began to uncover her embezzlement, Kolberg faked an armed bank robbery through a series of elaborate steps, including: franticly calling her husband claiming a robbery was occurring, thereby causing a 911 call to the Mason Police; reporting that she was forced at gunpoint to remove cash from an outdoor ATM; claiming she was forced back inside the bank and confined to a bathroom while the robber stole additional money from her teller drawer; further reporting that the robber forced her to destroy a bank surveillance tape; and, later meeting with an FBI forensic artist in an effort to develop a composite drawing of the alleged robber. Kolberg claimed that the bank robber stole $120,000.00 in an effort to explain why the actual cash on hand at the bank was significantly less than the balance carried on the books and records. Kolberg embezzled over $4,000.00 per month on many occasions, and as much as $7,677 in the month of January, 2012.

          “My office will continue to vigorously prosecute crimes that affect our federally insured financial institutions,” said U.S. Attorney Miles. “Kolberg’s significant embezzlement, which spanned several years, along with her decision to falsely claim that an armed bank robbery occurred in the hopes of concealing her crime, clearly commanded a prison sentence. Her actions caused unnecessary risk to the public and the responding police agencies as the police officers sped to the bank believing that an armed bank robbery was in progress, and resulted in limited law enforcement resources being directed to the investigation of a bank robbery that never actually occurred.” “Ms. Kolberg’s crime of continued and repeated embezzlement of funds was compounded by her false claim of an armed bank robbery,” said David P. Gelios, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Detroit Division. “This case serves as an unfortunate reminder to all organizations that not every threat comes from outside the organization.” “The Mason Police Department remains steadfast in its commitment to hold accountable those who, out of greed and without remorse prey on their victims,” commented Mason Police Chief, John Stressman. “As in this case, we seek all avenues of assistance to insure successful prosecution. The Department wishes to thank the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Lansing Officeand the Office of United States Attorney of the Western District of Michigan, Patrick A. Miles, Jr., for all the hours of effort, investigation and the outstanding organization of case materials, without which the final accounting of Megan Kolberg’s crime would not be possible. This criminal case exemplifies the immense value of federal law enforcement at all levels of policing.”

          The investigation was conducted by the Lansing office of the FBI and the Mason Police Department. The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald M. Stella.

END

Updated March 1, 2016