Former Loan Officer Indicted for Bank Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft
| U.S. Attorney’s Office September 11, 2009 |
McALLEN, TX—A federal grand jury has indicted Emma Vigil, of McAllen, and charged her with five counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, United States Attorney Tim Johnson announced today. Vigil, 48, was arrested by FBI agents at her residence this morning and will be arraigned at a hearing this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter Ormsby in McAllen.
According to the indictment, returned under seal on Sept. 10, 2009, and unsealed following this morning’s arrest, Vigil, 48, used her former position as a loan officer at Lone Star National Bank from May 2005, to September 2008, to conduct numerous fraudulent and unauthorized debit transactions from her loan customers’ accounts. In many instances, Vigil targeted customers with high-balance, high-activity accounts to conceal her scheme.
The indictment also alleges that Vigil generated and submitted two commercial loan applications that she knew to contain materially false information. In addition to manufacturing the applicants’ names for both loans, Vigil allegedly secured funding on at least one of the loans by using information belonging to her legitimate loan customers including dates of birth, mailing addresses, passport numbers and financial statements.
As a result of Vigil’s alleged fraud, Lone Star National Bank and its customers have sustained losses totaling in excess of $600,000.
If convicted, Vigil, faces up to 30 years in federal prison for each bank fraud count and a mandatory two-year-term of imprisonment for the aggravated identity theft count. The mandatory two-year sentence for an aggravated identity theft conviction must be served consecutive to any sentence imposed for a bank fraud conviction; there is no parole in the federal system.
The investigation leading to the charges was conducted by special agents of the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Gregory S. Saikin.
An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.