A former employee of First Security Bank in Searcy was sentenced Monday to nearly two years in prison and was ordered to repay $385,392 she admitted stealing from the bank over more than seven years.
Nadine Freeland pleaded guilty April 13 to a single charge of bank fraud, admitting she carried out a scheme to defraud the bank from Nov. 24, 2006, until Jan. 13, 2014.
According to a criminal information, or charging document, Freeland's duties at the bank included setting up new credit card accounts, and she used that know-how to create several fake accounts. She admitted she then transferred balances from her personal accounts to the fake accounts, for which she created fake names.
The document says she kept the fake cards in "current" status by creating debits and credits.
Over time, the document says, she transferred money from "Items in Transit" accounts, also referred to as general ledger accounts, to her personal account. It says she would then balance the Items in Transit accounts by transferring money from fee accounts, including a fraud-loss account.
On Jan. 13, 2014, according to the information, Freeland transferred credits and debits to and from four fraudulent credit cards she created for her own benefit.
Accompanied by attorney Kathryn Hudson, Freeland appeared Monday for sentencing in the Little Rock courtroom of Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Miller. He ordered her to report to a federal prison in Bryan, Texas, on Jan. 22, and to participate in mental-health counseling during her imprisonment, which is to be followed by two years of supervised release.
Miller's order requires Freeland to pay 50 percent each month of all money available to her during her incarceration. The payments will be reduced to 10 percent of her gross monthly income once she's released. Miller waived an interest requirement on the restitution.
NW News on 11/26/2015