Former CU Teller, Vault Supervisor Pleads Guilty to $1.1 Million Embezzlement

Grace Garza, a former credit union teller and vault supervisor will be sentenced in May after pleading guilty to embezzling more than $1.1 million from the $83.3 million Space City Credit Union in Houston.

According to a plea agreement filed by prosecutors earlier this month in Houston’s Federal district court, Garza, 48, of Pasadena, Texas, used her position to deposit worthless checks from other banks into her account and family member accounts of her co-defendant, Susanna Guajardo, 42, of Pearland, Texas.

Guajardo pleaded not guilty to embezzlement and false entry charges in December.

When the checks were returned to SCCU for insufficient funds, Guajardo allegedly handled these checks and failed to deduct the amounts of these checks from her accounts and Garza’s account.

Guajardo also allegedly made false entries into SCCU’s books and records to conceal the embezzlement and falsified account reconciliations, according to Garza’s plea agreement.

Garza was fired in March 2016 for stealing $110,000 from the vault. Federal prosecutors did not say how long Garza was taking money from the vault or how she managed to steal so much cash from the vault without being detected.

According to court documents, from 2010 to 2017, Garza and Guajardo allegedly embezzled $1,154,876.

Guarjardo’s jury trial is scheduled for March 25.