Former Bank Executive Admits To Embezzling More Than $200,000 And Pleads Guilty To Charges

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A former Wholesale Banking Relationship Support Manager of a Charlotte area bank appeared in court today and admitted to stealing more than $216,889 from his employer, announced Jill Westmoreland Rose, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Mark Isaac Coffino, 38, of Huntersville, N.C. pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement by a bank employee before U.S. Magistrate Judge David C. Keesler.

U.S. Attorney Rose is joined in making today’s announcement by John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in North Carolina.

According to filed court documents and today’s court proceedings, from 2010 to 2016, Coffino was employed by a large international bank. Coffino used his position as a wholesale banking relationship support manager to create and issue approximately 20 cashier checks payable to his personal accounts. Coffino used the bank operating expenses ledger account numbers to conceal the origin of the funds. Court records indicate that Coffino lied to his direct reports to obtain approval of the cashier checks.

According to plea related documents, Coffino embezzled funds on twelve occasions between May 2015 and December 2016 in amounts ranging from $6,995 to $48,659.

Coffino was released on bond following his guilty plea. The charge carries a maximum prison term of 30 years and a $1,000,000 fine. As part of his plea agreement, has agreed to pay restitution, the amount of which will be determined by the Court at sentencing. A sentencing date for the defendant has not been set yet.

The investigation was led by the FBI. Assistant United States Attorney Jenny Sugar, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, is prosecuting the case.