NORFOLK, Va. — A former Norfolk bank teller pleaded guilty to stealing over $100,000 from an elderly customer, the Office of the Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney announced.
Prosecutors said 30-year-old Imani Adams was convicted on four counts of felony forgery and four counts of felony embezzlement.
Between late 2018 and early 2019, Adams forged the 85-year-old victim's name on withdrawal slips and withdrew cash from the victim's account 16 times, stealing a total of $119,000. The victim eventually noticed the missing money and contacted the bank, which started an internal investigation that determined Adams was the culprit.
"They pulled the video from the bank and saw it was all the same teller. [They] saw that the account holder was not there for any of the transactions. They then sat down and spoke to the teller. The teller confessed to taking the money," said Commonwealth's Attorney Ramin Fatehi.
Fatehi said his office takes white-collar crimes seriously, and he said his office will work to prosecute those responsible.
"If you steal with a keyboard, you are just as guilty as, if not more guilty than, if you steal with a knife or a gun. You can ruin, absolutely ruin people's lives when you steal six figures worth of money, whether it's from a bank, whether it's from a business or a whether it's from an individual. So, people need to go to prison for that," Fatehi said.
The bank reported Adams to the police and restored all of the stolen money back into the victim's account.
Part of Adams' plea agreement includes paying the full amount of $119,000 in restitution to the bank. She will be sentenced on October 18.