Glen Rock Bank Workers Charged With Stealing Customer Money

Three former employees of are facing criminal charges for allegedly stealing more than $60,000 in customers' money in a pair of schemes, authorities said Thursday.

The schemes were carried out by a bank vice president, a branch manager and a teller between July 2010 and June 2011 and netted the trio about $62,000 from customer accounts, Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said.

Branch Manager Pamela Faber, 51, of Ringwood, authorized seven withdrawals totaling $33,000 from one customer's certificate of deposit account, which were processed by Gricel Feliciano-Soto, a 42-year-old teller from Hawthorne, Molinelli said.

Some of the money was deposited into their personal accounts, the prosecutor said.

An annual bank audit caught another scheme, said Molinelli, whose White Collar Crime Division conducted the investigation.

Prosecutors contend Faber, Feliciano-Soto and bank Vice President Susan Schroter, 58, of Haledon, raided a second account, with Schroter initiating five withdrawals. The withdrawals, which were processed by Feliciano-Soto and totaled $29,170, were transferred into Schroter's personal account as well as the accounts of two family members, Molinelli said.

The three were fired from the bank when the audit uncovered the diversion and officers of the bank turned over the information to the prosecutor's office, Molinelli said.

They were each charged with computer criminal activity, theft, misapplication of entrusted property of a financial institution, misconduct by a corporate official and forgery.

In a statement released to media, Glen Rock Savings Bank president Henry P. Ingrassia said the bank ensured "full restitution" to victims, adding CD accounts are insured by $250,000.

"Glen Rock Savings Bank observes stringent internal audit procedures as a cornerstone of depositor protection," he said Thursday. "Depositors should know that these procedures were critical in identifying this incident and achieving a timely and effective response."