Broken trust brings prison for ex-bank official
Former manager admits embezzlement.
Broken trust brings prison for ex-bank official
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By Tony Thornton
Published: July 16, 2008
MUSKOGEE — Rhonda Harris spent 25 years building the trust of her mostly elderly clientele.
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Attorney seeks leniency
Harris pleaded guilty in February to a two-count indictment alleging embezzlement and money laundering.
Before being sentenced, Harris told U.S. District Judge Ronald A. White, "There's no excuse for my behavior. ... I'm sorry for all the harm that I caused.”
The punishment range at White's discretion was roughly 11 to 14 years in prison. Defense attorney Donn Baker asked White to impose the minimum sentence, saying she would be 61 or 62 years old upon release, "which will more than punish her.”
The judge ordered Harris to report to prison Aug. 8 but allowed her to remain free until then.
‘Robbing Peter to pay Paul'
Horn described her scheme this way: Harris would plunder from certificates of deposit and money market accounts, which customers typically left alone for years at a time.
When someone cashed in a CD, Harris would steal from some other CD or money market account.
"She was robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Baker said.
However, because Harris kept no records of her thefts, there is no way to say with precision whether everyone was repaid, Horn said.
It was discovered in October 2006 when a customer came in to cash in a CD on Harris's day off and was told there was no record of his account.
Kirk Hays, an Arvest vice president, recalled calling Harris and asking about it. She confessed 25 years' worth of thefts, Hays said.
An audit team was called in as the first step in a painstaking process aimed at reimbursing every customer who lost money, he said.
Most of the thefts occurred before Arvest bought the bank branch in 2003.
Hays said, "it was our goal from Day 1 to take care of the customers the right way. ... I think 99 percent of those customers would say we did,” Hays said.
As part of her plea agreement, Harris spent two days helping Arvest officials unravel her thefts. Arvest and its insurer reimbursed every customer whose losses could be verified.
One victim is ward of the state
One person who isn't satisfied is Linda Rogers of Oklahoma City, whose elderly aunt lost her life savings to Harris.
Rogers' aunt, Lillian Reardon, is a widow who so trusted Harris, she gave her power of attorney eight years ago.
After Reardon moved into a nursing home, Harris wiped out Reardon's savings and sold her house, keeping the down payment.
Rogers later got a call indicating her aunt's $400,000 in assets were gone. Reardon is now a ward of the state, Rogers said.
The niece blames Arvest in part, saying Harris used the trust she built as the bank's manager to take advantage of Reardon.
Don Walker, Arvest's regional president in Tulsa, said the power-of-attorney issue makes Reardon's case unique from the others.
Harris's action with Reardon's assets "wasn't as a banker, in our opinion. It was through a personal relationship that she built with Mrs. Reardon,” Walker said.
He said upon learning of the situation, he drove to the Muskogee nursing home where Reardon lives and confirmed that her needs would be met.
The bank is overseeing a process to have the new owner of Reardon's home make monthly payments to benefit Reardon, Walker said.
"We want nothing but the best” for Reardon, he said.
Walker said Reardon's situation is among "one or two” instances from Harris's thefts "that we don't know what to do.”
Related Topics:
Crime, Criminal Sentencing and Punishment, Business, Financial Markets, Embezzlement, Money Markets, Fixed Income Securities
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