Des Moines Woman Sentenced to Prison & Ordered to Pay Restitution for Embezzling from Bankers Trust

DES MOINES, IA – On August 10, 2017, Lacey M. Nicolino, 34, of Des Moines, Iowa, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger to five months in federal prison for embezzlement by a bank employee, announced United States Attorney Kevin E. VanderSchel. Nicolino will serve five years of supervised release following her imprisonment, including five months of home confinement, pay $100 to the Crime Victims’ Fund, and pay $69,996 in restitution to Bankers Trust.

Nicolino pleaded guilty to this charge on March 30, 2017. According to the plea agreement, Nicolino was a cash vault teller employed by Bankers Trust in Des Moines. Nicolino’s teller duty was to accurately count and report deposits made by various commercial depositors with Bankers Trust. Nicolino was responsible for the nearly daily cash deposits to the Des Moines Area Regional Transit Authority (DART) account.

Beginning on or about December 15, 2015, and continuing through on or about June 16, 2016, Nicolino frequently underreported cash actually present in DART deposits. Nicolino then removed the excess, unreported funds from the vault, and used it for personal expenses. Nicolino under credited DART’s deposit account by $34,600.

Nicolino also took other funds belonging to Bankers Trust from the vault during this same time. These funds had already been accurately processed into the bank computer system, and, therefore did not impact the accounts of any depositors.

Upon discovery of Nicolino’s conduct, Bankers Trust notified DART and fully compensated their account. Accordingly, Nicolino’s conduct resulted in a monetary loss to Bankers Trust of $69,996. In committing this crime, Nicolino manipulated a deposit process unique to the DART account. Bankers Trust subsequently changed the process to prevent similar crimes from occurring in the future.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation. This case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa.

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Learn more about this release by calling Rachel J. Scherle at 515-473-9300, or by emailing her at Rachel.Scherle@usdoj.gov.