Charges: Bank employee Kazeem Adelekan defrauded elderly victims out of more than $40K

COLUMBIA HEIGHTS, Minn. -- A 34-year-old Coon Rapids man faces a felony charge accusing him of stealing nearly $45,000 from elderly victims while working as a bank employee.

According to the Anoka County Attorney's Office, Kazeem Adelekan faces one charge of identity theft involving more than eight victims with a combined loss of over $35,000.

The complaint states that police officers were dispatched to a U.S. Bank location on the 5200 block of Central Avenue NE in Columbia Heights on June 1, responding to a report of internal fraud.

Adelekan allegedly admitted to gathering private customer information while at work and then selling it to co-conspirators.

"The co-conspirators would then open an online banking account using the stolen information provided by (Adelekan)," the complaint said. "The co-conspirators would then attempt to transfer money from the victims' accounts to their account by way of the newly created online banking account."

Adelekan was then allegedly paid by the co-conspirators for sharing the stolen information for the accounts.

During the investigation, it was determined that there were 11 victims and $44,835.56 was successfully stolen, but the among attempted to be stolen totaled more than $101,000.

If convicted, Adelekan faces up to 20 years in prison.