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A former branch manager for the $512 million Greater Iowa Credit Union in Ames, Iowa is scheduled to appear in court Friday for allegedly stealing more than $430,000 from the vault over seven years.
Investigators for the Ames Police Department arrested and charged Henry Martin Hill, 35, of Pleasant Hill on Dec. 30 with theft and forgery in the first degree. He is being held at the Story County Jail in lieu of a $150,000 cash bond.
On September 30, Hill walked into the Des Moines Police Department and allegedly admitted to investigators that he stole an estimated $250,000 or more from the branch vault. The case was then turned over to Ames police investigators.
A credit union audit revealed Hill stole $430,866 that he spent on daily living expenses, according to police.
Hill admitted that he regularly stole large bills from the vault and signed off on a phony monthly audit document, indicating the vault had the correct cash count. Although this document had to be signed by two people, he simply told one of his employees to sign it because he had already counted the cash, police investigators said.
To make up for the cash shortage, Hill allegedly purchased additional money from the Federal Reserve.
In addition to falsifying the vault's monthly audit reports, he concealed the cash shortages in the vault during annual audits by only providing evidence of intact money within the vault, police said.
He also told police investigators that he was not heavily questioned about the vault's cash status because of his position as the branch manager.
Hill decided to admit his crimes to police after the credit union hired a new compliance officer who was planning to conduct complete cash counts at all branch vaults in 2019.
The police investigation and credit union audit found that the signed monthly audit and the vault's cash count records were consistent with Hill's statements about how he stole the funds and concealed his alleged theft.
Hill joined Greater Iowa Credit Union in May 2010 and became the branch manager of the Airport Road branch in Ames in 2011, police said.
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