Former BB&T Senior Vice-President and Regional Branch Operations Manager Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement

Abingdon, VIRGINIA – A former senior vice-president with BB&T, who stole cash from bank vaults to which she had access through her employment with the bank, pled guilty to federal embezzlement charges this morning in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon, Acting United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.

Melissa D. Huffman, 46, of Roanoke, Virginia, waived her right to be indicted and pled guilty this morning to a one count Information charging embezzlement from a FDIC-insured bank.

United States District Judge James P. Jones scheduled a sentencing hearing for August 1, 2017, at 2:30 p.m. At sentencing, Huffman faces a maximum possible penalty of up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000. Huffman agreed to make full restitution and to pay more than $30,000 toward restitution by May 24, 2017.

Between 2014 and December 2016, Huffman worked as a senior vice-president and regional branch operations manager for BB&T. As part of her official duties, Huffman had access to the vaults of BB&T’s banks throughout the Western District of Virginia. On several occasions, Huffman stole case from the vaults she visited and caused the shortages to be attributed to subordinate employees at the banks. The branches from which she stole cash included Boonsboro, Fort Hill, Martinsville, Tanglewood, Tazewell, and Warrenton.

The investigation of the case was conducted by the United States Secret Service. Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer is prosecuting the case for the United States.