Bank teller sentenced for embezzlement

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) - A woman has been sentenced after pleading guilty to embezzling more than $100,000 from the Kalamazoo bank branch where she worked.

Tammy Lynn Lumbard was sentenced Monday to 12 months and one day in custody and four years supervised release. She was ordered to pay $108,630 in restitution and a $100 special assessment.

Earlier this year, she pleaded guilty to a federal charge of financial institution embezzlement. Lumbard admitted to taking more than $100,000 from the Huntington National Bank in Kalamazoo, court documents show. Charges were brought against her in federal court because the bank is federally insured.

Lumbard worked as a teller supervisor and universal banker for Huntington between 2003 and 2011. The last three years of that was spent at a branch in Kalamazoo.

Court documents show Lumbard took about $108,630 from various customer accounts by cashing forged checks.

She paid interest on the money taken to hide the embezzlement, the documents show. She also indicated on paperwork that her teller drawer was balanced when it wasn't.

It was noticed after an elderly customer with memory troubles realized the discrepancy in his account, according to the court documents. He had started getting notices of overdue payments, which he made, not realizing that he didn't actually owe the bank any money.

Lumbard could have been sentenced to up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.