Ex-Teller Pleads Guilty to Insider Scheme
In the latest example of insider fraud, a former JPMorgan Chase employee pleaded guilty to participating in a scheme to steal more than $60,000 from New Jersey bank customers' accounts.Christine Fahmy, 22, of Sciota, PA, admitted that she took part in the scheme in 2008 and 2009. As a teller at the JPMorgan Chase bank in Hackettstown, NJ, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Fahmy accessed 12 customer account profiles and sold them to two people in Monroe County, PA. The two individuals, Lavan Blair and Jonnell Gantt, used the customer profile information to have false identification documents made and used those credentials to access the accounts.
Blair and Gantt have already pleaded guilty to bank fraud and attempted bank fraud as aiders and abettors. They are both awaiting sentencing.
Fahmy was charged in a complaint filed by the United States Attorney's Office in April 2010. Her charge resulted from an investigation conducted by the FBI and Hackettstown police. Dennis Pfannenschmidt, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania says that as a result of the guilty plea, Fahmy faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Fahmy will be sentenced on September 8.