By Jeremy Walsh
A personal banker at the Long Island City branch of Astoria Federal Savings was charged last week with stealing more than $90,000 in customers’ funds over five months, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Eman Mazhar, 30, of College Point, was charged Jan. 15 with grand larceny, possession of stolen property, falsifying business records and money laundering. If convicted, she faces up to seven years in prison. Her next court date is Jan. 26.
“The defendant is accused of using her position to take the proceeds of checks submitted to her for deposit in customers’ annuity funds, cashing stolen checks against customers’ accounts and taking the proceeds of checks submitted for deposit into customers’ accounts,” Brown said in a statement. “The lesson to be learned from this case is that there is a penalty to be incurred for early withdrawal — especially of other people’s money.”
A personal banker helps a select list of the institution’s customers with their financial matters and provides them with advice on how best to manage their assets.
Mazhar had worked for Astoria Federal since 2002, but had only been a personal banker since 2007, Brown said.
Between Jan. 20 and May 26, 2009, at the Astoria Federal Saving Bank’s branch at 29-34 30th Ave., Mazhar allegedly falsified banking records and misappropriated $91,271.90 from customer accounts by making cash withdrawals or by depositing customers’ checks into bogus accounts which she set up and controlled, Brown said.
In one instance, Mazhar allegedly attempted to conceal her scheme by taking $30,000 that another teller had received from a customer for a certificate of deposit and diverting $20,000 of the funds to the account of one of her earlier victims, the DA said.
Mazhar then allegedly split the remaining $10,000 evenly by depositing $5,000 in a bogus account she set up and taking the remaining $5,000 in cash, Brown said.
Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e-mail at jewalsh@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
