UNITED STATES ATTORNEY JOYCE WHITE VANCE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
	FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE			CONTACT: PEGGY SANFORD
	OCTOBER 29, 2009			PHONE: (205) 244-2020
	www.usdoj.gov/usao/aln			FAX: (205) 244-2171

BANK EMPLOYEE INDICTED FOR EMBEZZLING MORE THAN $90,000

BIRMINGHAM - A federal grand jury today indicted a 31-year-old Clanton woman for bank fraud totaling more than $90,000, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Roy Sexton.

            MELANIE CRANFORD was charged in a two-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Birmingham.

            Count one charges bank fraud. Beginning in April 1, 2007, through June of 2007, Cranford, an employee of First American Bank in Shelby County embezzled more than $90,000 and submitted false documents to bank authorities in an effort to conceal her theft of bank vault funds. The maximum sentence for the charge is 30 years imprisonment and a $1 million fine.

            Count two of the indictment seeks to have Cranford forfeit $96,100 to the government.

            Special agents of the Secret Service investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney is prosecuting it on behalf of the United States.

            Members of the public are reminded that the indictment contains only charges.  A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

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