Former Branch Banking and Trust Employee Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Making a False Bank Entry

CHARLESTON, WV—A former Branch Banking and Trust Company (BB&T) employee was sentenced today to 30 months in prison by United States District Judge John T. Copenhaver, Jr. for making a false bank entry. Bonnie J. Bain, 60, of Belle, Kanawha County, West Virginia, previously pleaded guilty in June. Bain was an employee of BB&T and its predecessors from 1977 to November 2007. Bain was a teller supervisor at the West Side Branch of BB&T in Charleston from 2004 until October 2007 and also held positions of head teller and primary vault teller during her employment with the banking company.

Bain admitted that from at least May 2004 to October 2007, she embezzled between $200,000 and $400,000 in cash from the West Side of Charleston’s branch of BB&T. In order to conceal the embezzlement scheme and the resultant cash shortage, Bain admitted to making false entries in the company’s books and records to make it appear as if the cash total reconciled when in fact it did not. Bain “floated” the outage among her teller drawer and general ledger accounts using various methods. To further her embezzlement scheme, Bain admitted to recording fictitious cash dollar amount in her teller/vault drawer by force balancing. Bain also admitted that on other occasions, she would reduce the cash shown in her teller/vault drawer by creating fictitious cash out tickets.

“Bank employees enjoy a special position of trust,” said U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin. “Customers trust them with their nest eggs, their kids’ college accounts, and the money that they live on day to day.”

“To abuse that trust is unconscionable,” Goodwin continued. “It’s a crime not only against the bank, but against everyone who counted on this defendant to keep their money safe and sound. I’m pleased we were able to bring her to justice, and I hope her sentence sends a powerful message.”

At sentencing, the court also ordered the defendant to pay $293,376 in restitution.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Secret Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney Susan Robinson handled the prosecution.