Citizens Bank tellers stole thousands from Massachusetts customers in "coordinated scheme," DA says
BOSTON – Three former Citizens Bank employees are facing charges after Massachusetts prosecutors say they stole tens of thousands of dollars from customers' accounts as part of a "coordinated scheme."
Citizens Bank employees charged
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan announced charges against Yeimaly Moscat, 23, Yojairis Suazo, 21, and 31-year-old Angelica Morales. Charges include larceny by scheme and embezzlement by a bank employee.
Moscat and Suazo were arraigned and released on bail while Morales will be summonsed for arraignment on December 12.
Several of the alleged thefts took place between September and November 2022. According to the criminal complaints, the stolen funds were paid out in counter transactions to "suspected associates" of Moscat and Suazo.
The bank tellers would enter the receipts as "Known Customers," even though the people at the counter were not accountholders.
Moscat was working as a teller at a branch in Somerville and is accused of stealing $40,900 from customer accounts through a series of 12 unauthorized withdrawals.
Around the same time, Suazo allegedly took $30,850 from customers at a Dorchester branch over the course of 15 withdrawals.
Citizens Bank response
About one year later between November and December 2023, prosecutors say Morales was recruited to carry out similar scheme. Morales, who was working at the Citizens Bank in Milton, allegedly processed five transactions to steal $20,000.
"They used their positions of trust to invade accounts and allegedly used their coconspirators to successfully take substantial sums from the bank," Ryan said. "The investigators at Citizen's Bank identified the suspicious transactions and brought them to our attention, which has enabled us to seek charges to hold these defendants accountable."
Citizens Bank issued a statement after the arrests were announced.
"The safety and security of our customer's accounts is of the upmost importance to us and we have robust security measures in place to monitor suspicious activity. As soon as we became aware of this incident we addressed the matter immediately," the company said. "We take the privacy and protection of information entrusted to us seriously and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused."
