A former bank supervisor at Athol Savings Bank is facing federal embezzlement charges after allegedly withdrawing more than $100,000 from customer accounts, including from 84 and 88-year-old customers.
Jessica Vargas, who was promoted to branch supervisor of the the bank’s uptown branch in May, is facing one count of bank embezzlement.
According to court documents, an 88-year-old customer notified the bank of a $2,000 withdrawal made in December she did not remember making. After conducting a review, bank employees found no withdrawal slip for that transaction.Â
After further review of teller documents associated with Vargas, employees saw that numerous withdrawal slips were missing for the 84-year-old customer as well.
When confronted by bank employees, Vargas eventually admitted to taking no more than $10,000 and later amended her answer to no more than $20,000.
Using video footage compared with timing of withdrawals, the bank was able to determine that Vargas processed a total of $108,171 in unauthorized withdrawal between August 2016 and December 2017.
Vargas was arraigned on Tuesday and released from custody.Â
