A federal judge sentenced Marie Fulle, 38, a former Comerica bank branch manager, to 41 months in federal prison for stealing more than $1 million from an elderly customer with dementia, and then using it for her personal expenses, including gambling and buying luxury items. Fulle pleaded guilty in September 2019 to an information charging her with two counts of bank fraud. She will have to pay back $1,091,230 in restitution..
Fulle worked as a branch manager of a Comerica bank. From February 2013 to April 2014, she targeted a vulnerable customer – an elderly man with dementia – and cultivated an exclusive banking relationship with him. Fulle then opened bank accounts with the victim and used them to create a confusing web so she could hide unauthorized transfers, and forged withdrawals with cashier's checks. Between February 2013 and May 2013, Fulle embezzled $43,400 in six transactions. After Fulle did not get promoted at work May 2013, she began embezzling larger amounts of the victim's money, unilaterally changing the address for one of the victim's accounts, which prevented the statements from getting to the victim and his bookkeeper. Fulle manipulated this account for her embezzlement and, after she changed the address, significant amounts of the victim's money began flowing through it. Fulle also conducted much of the victim's banking activities one-on-one in private, away from the view of other bank personnel or security cameras.
During the scheme, Fulle used the money she stole from the victim to buy Tiffany jewelry, a Louis Vuitton bag, spa days for herself and her then-boyfriend, and gambling trips to Las Vegas.
Comerica fired Fulle in April 2014 for embezzling money from her cash drawer. When Comerica then discovered Fulle's fraud, it reimbursed the victim nearly $1.3 million for disputed transactions that Fulle processed, lost interest and attorneys' fees. Fulle caused to the victim a total loss of $1,057,230, including the victim's attorneys' fees.
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