ST. ROSE WOMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO BANK FRAUD
KATHERINE CHARLES, age 51, a resident of St. Rose, LA, pled guilty in federal court today before U.S. District Judge Eldon E. Fallon to one count of bank fraud relating to a scheme to defraud the Home Federal Bank of Nampa, Idaho, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten.
According to court documents, KATHERINE CHARLES admitted that she submitted an application for a health savings account at the Home Federal Bank of Nampa, Idaho (Home Federal Bank). After opening this account she deposited six checks which were drawn from checking accounts she held at two different banks. Immediately after depositing these checks in the Home Federal Bank account, KATHERINE CHARLES withdrew funds from the Home Federal Bank account with her debit card, which caused the account to be overdrawn. At the time she deposited the checks in the Home Federal Bank account and withdrew the funds, she knew that her accounts at the other two banks had been suspended or closed and that the Home Federal Bank would not receive the money. In all, KATHERINE CHARLES fraudulently obtained $5,538.48 from the Home Federal Bank of Nampa, Idaho.
This case was indicted and investigated in the District of Idaho, but was later transferred to the Eastern District of Louisiana pursuant to an agreement that KATHERINE CHARLES would plead guilty in this district. CHARLES faces a maximum term of imprisonment of thirty (30) years, a $1,000,000 fine, restitution to the Home Federal Bank of Nampa, Idaho, and five (5) years of supervised release following imprisonment. Sentencing has been scheduled for April 22, 2010.
The case was investigated by the U. S. Postal Inspection Service. The prosecution and guilty plea is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Sharan E. Lieberman from the Eastern District of Louisiana and was initiated and investigated by Assistant United States Attorney George Breitsameter from the District of Idaho.
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