Owensboro Bank Associate Charged with Embezzlement
BB&T Associate Stole Almost $1.5 Million

OWENSBORO, KY—An Information was filed on Friday, December 11, 2009, by the United States Attorney charging Laura Potts, age 40, of Owensboro, Kentucky, in Daviess County, on charges of embezzling, purloining, or willfully misapplying moneys, funds or assets entrusted to the custody or care of Branch Bank & Trust (“BB&T”) in violation of Title 18, U.S. Code §656, United States Attorney Candace G. Hill of the Western District of Kentucky announced today.

The Information alleges that between 2005 and 2009, Potts was a private banking associate of the BB&T Bank, 230 Frederica Street, Owensboro, Kentucky. She used her position to purloin money from customer’s accounts in 2005 and continued to do so until May 2009, by using “debit memos” on the teller line to obtain cash or cashier’s checks. The cashier’s checks were made payable to various banks where she had deposit accounts or credit card accounts. She deposited these cashier’s checks into her personal accounts. She used these funds to purchase various items and she spent much of it at the casinos. She stole a total of $1,498,845.46 from the accounts of several different elderly customers.

In the event of a conviction, the maximum potential penalties are 30 years’ imprisonment, a $1,000,000. fine, and supervised release for a period of three years.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. Kilmartin, and it was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Potts is scheduled to appear for arraignment before the United States Magistrate Judge on December 22, 2009, at 10:00 a.m., in Owensboro, Kentucky.