Former Credit Union Vault Teller Faces Sentencing for $222,000 Embezzlement
Dianne Richardson, 69, conceals her scheme by falsifying records and reports for more than five years.
A 69-year-old former credit union teller will be sentenced in October for stealing $222,000 from the $196 million Pioneer West Virginia Federal Credit Union.
U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart in Charleston said Dianne Richardson of Logan pleaded guilty to one embezzlement charge on July 16 in federal court.
Richardson, who worked as the designated vault teller for Pioneer West Virginia FCU’s South Charleston branch, admitted she stole the funds from September 2013 to February 2019 when her scheme was detected during an unannounced audit.
According to court documents, Richardson made more than 20 fake entries in the credit union’s records to conceal the cash shortages, by falsifying cash in and cash out tickets, force balancing her teller drawer, and filing phony cash reconcilements and daily vault cash balancing reports.
In exchange for Richardson’s guilty plea, prosecutors dropped the 23 felony counts of making false entries originally charged against her in an indictment.
“All of us here at Pioneer WV are deeply saddened by the events leading up to the arrest and subsequent embezzlement guilty plea of Dianne Richardson,” the credit union said in a prepared statement Monday. “Since this is now in the hands of the judicial system, we await the conclusion of the matter regarding sentencing and have no further comment to make at this time.”
Richardson faces a prison sentence of up to 30 years.