Midlothian Woman Pleads Guilty to bank Fraud
RICHMOND, Va. –Christine N. Sittler, 41, of Midlothian, Va., pleaded guilty today to Bank Fraud.
Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States Magistrate Judge Dennis W. Dohnal.
A criminal information charging Sittler with Bank Fraud was filed on December 17, 2010. Sittler faces a maximum penalty of thirty years’ imprisonment when she is sentenced on March 25, 2011.
In a statement of facts filed with her plea agreement, Sittler admitted that over a three-year period she stole more than $380,000 from various bank accounts managed by her former employer, the Keeney Corporation. Sittler, who was employed as a Financial Services Specialist, wrote checks to herself from the various accounts and forged an authorized signature on the checks. She also initiated unauthorized wire transfers from the accounts to her bank cards. As part of the plea agreement, Sittler agreed to pay full restitution to the account owners.
This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Richmond Police Department as members of the Metro-Richmond Identity Theft Task Force. Other member agencies include: the United States Secret Service; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Bureau of Diplomatic Security, U.S. Department of State; the Chesterfield County Police Department; and Henrico County Division of Police. Prosecutions for the Task Force are handled by the United States Attorney’s Office and the Office of the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Virginia.
For more information on the Task Force, including assistance for victims of identity theft, visit: www.richmondIDtheft.com. Assistant United States Attorney Jamie Mickelson prosecuted the case for the United States.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.uspci.uscourts.gov.
