Former Bank of the West Customer Service Manager Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement

February 1, 2010 - FRESNO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced today that DONICE MAXINE MEDINA, 53, of Parlier, Calif., pleaded guilty today to theft and embezzlement of bank funds before United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill.

This case is the product of an extensive investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and was brought to the attention of the FBI by Bank of the West investigators who discovered the embezzlement.

According to Assistant United States Attorneys Sheila K. Oberto and Kirk E. Sherriff, who prosecuted the case, in connection with her guilty plea, MEDINA admitted that from approximately January 2006 through August 28, 2009, she used her position as a Customer Service Manager of Bank of the West branch in Parlier to embezzle approximately $1.8 million of the bank’s funds.

MEDINA is scheduled to be sentenced on April 23, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. The maximum statutory penalty for theft or embezzlement by a bank officer or employee is 30 years in custody and a fine of up to $1,000,000. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables and any applicable statutory sentencing factors.