FRESNO – A bank manager and her boyfriend were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly running a scheme that defrauded a Fresno Bank of America of more than $600,000, according to U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner.
Sylvia Ochoa, 33, of Orange Cove, was the branch manager of the Bank of America on East Tulare Street. For seven months in 2013, Ochoa and her boyfriend Shanne Leavell, 23, also of Orange Cove, conspired to defraud the bank, according to court documents.
Ochoa allegedly did not let other bank employees count the cash in the vault, despite the bank’s policy requiring them to do so. Ochoa then went into the vault after hours and took money for personal use, the court documents say.
Ochoa also allegedly made fraudulent credits and transfers into her own accounts and into two accounts she opened in the name of Leavell. The couple used the stolen money to purchase a truck and expensive handbags, and also gambled with the money at casinos, authorities said.
Ochoa is charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud and embezzlement by a bank manager. Leavell is charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud. They face a 30-year sentence and a $1 million fine.
