Maryland Bank Teller Pleads Guilty to Stealing More Than $250,000 From Clients
April 6, 2025 / Source: OIG
Greenbelt, Maryland – Today, Mountee Brown, 27, a former bank teller from Clinton, Maryland, pled guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with a scheme to steal funds from bank customers.
Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the guilty plea with Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey D. Pittano, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG), Mid-Atlantic Region.
According to his guilty plea, Brown worked as a bank teller with Bank A, located in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. In his role, he had access to the bank accounts of five victims, four of whom were over the age of 80. Between October and November 2022, Brown and his co-conspirators devised a scheme to use his position as a bank teller to make at least 26 unauthorized cash withdrawals involving the victims’ accounts.
The co-conspirators began carrying out the scheme on October 21, 2022, when Co-conspirator #1 entered Bank A and approached Brown at his designated teller station. Brown knew that Co-conspirator #1 was not Victim #1. But Brown and Co-conspirator #1 conducted a $10,000 cash withdrawal from Victim #1’s account without Victim #1’s knowledge or consent. Brown conducted the cash withdrawal by falsely documenting that he verified the customer, the customer was a “known client,” and that the customer was known by Brown’s supervisor. Co-conspirator #1 falsely signed the withdrawal ticket as Victim #1.
Then on October 22, 2022, Brown and Co-conspirator #1 conducted two additional unauthorized withdrawal transactions from Victim #1’s account totaling $20,000. The same day, Brown deposited approximately $4,300 in cash in an account at another financial institution.
On October 25, 2022, Co-conspirator #2 entered Bank A and approached Brown at his designated teller station. Brown knew that Co-conspirator #2 was not Victim #2. However, Brown and Co-conspirator #2 conducted a $10,000 cash withdrawal from Victim #2’s account without Victim #2’s knowledge or consent. Brown conducted the cash withdrawal by falsely documenting that he verified the customer, the customer was a “known client,” and the customer was known by Brown’s supervisor. Co-conspirator #2 falsely signed the withdrawal ticket as Victim #2.
On the same day, Co-conspirator #2 re-entered Bank A and approached Brown at his designated teller station. Brown and Co-conspirator #2 conducted a $10,000 cash withdrawal from Victim #3’s account, without Victim #3’s knowledge or consent. Brown conducted the cash withdrawal by falsely stating he verified the customer, the customer was a “known client,” and the customer was known by Brown’s supervisor. Co-conspirator #2 falsely signed the withdrawal ticket as Victim #3.
Between October 22, 2022, and December 6, 2022, Brown made cash deposits of approximately $30,200 into his personal account at another financial institution. As a result of his participation in the fraud, Brown and other co-conspirators obtained, directly or indirectly, an amount up to approximately $255,000.
U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the FDIC-OIG for its work in the investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean R. Delaney and Darren Gardner who are prosecuting the federal case.
For more information about the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao/md.