Northport Regions Bank Teller Accused of Stealing $70,000 From Birmingham Accounts
A bank teller in Northport has been arrested and accused of stealing around $70,000 from customer accounts, according to court documents obtained by the Tuscaloosa Thread.
Police in Northport say that on November 2nd, a corporate security officer with Regions Bank filed a report concerning employee theft from the financial institution.
The security officer said Rickey Lee Winn, Jr. was a teller at the Regions branch in Northport off Lurleen Wallace Boulevard and, beginning in April, Winn started withdrawing large amounts of money from the accounts of at least one Birmingham resident without their consent.
The depositions did not specify if Winn was pulling money from a single account or from multiple customers, but he withdrew $5,000 nine different times, then took $6,000 once, $7,000 twice and his last reported withdrawal was for just under $6,500.
The affected customer or customers did not live or bank in Northport, police said.
Fraudulent transactions took place almost daily -- on April 12th, 13th, 18th, 21st, 22nd and 28th, then again on May 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 9th.
All told, Winn is accused of fraudulently withdrawing $71,469.77 from personal accounts. Investigators say the transactions were caught on camera and each withdrawal logged Winn's employee ID on receipts for the transfers of funds.
Regions had to repay the victim or victims the full amount stolen from them from the bank's own money.
Police in Northport ultimately charged Winn with first-degree theft of property for every one of the 12 fraudulent transactions, resulting in a dozen Class B felony charges. He was booked in the Tuscaloosa County Jail Friday, but released the same day on a combined $120,000 bond.
Because he is no longer a jail inmate, his mugshot was not publicly available Wednesday afternoon.
Stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread for other exclusive stories from the crime and courts beat in West Alabama.
Top Stories from the Tuscaloosa Thread (12/5 - 12/12)