Former Arizona Credit Union Teller Faces 20 Charges for Allegedly Stealing $222,000
State prosecutors say Hector Andres Aleman targeted vulnerable member accounts.
A former teller for an Arizona credit union is facing 20 criminal charges for allegedly stealing $222,000 from three vulnerable members.
Attorney General Mark Brnovich said Wednesday that Hector Andres Aleman was indicted by a state grand jury for felonies including fraudulent schemes, forgery, computer tampering, and taking the identity of another.
While Aleman worked as a teller for the $842 million Pima Federal Credit Union in Tucson, he applied for loans at the credit union in the name of two victims without their authorization or knowledge and kept the cash for himself, state federal prosecutors allege. The indictment also shows that he accessed and allegedly took funds from members’ savings accounts, a money market account, an IRA account, and other accounts.
What’s more, Aleman was accused of falsifying probate documents, including a notarized affidavit, for a recently deceased victim so that the former teller could direct the estate’s assets to himself, according to state prosecutors. They do not say how the alleged crimes were detected or how the former credit union employee spent members’ stolen funds.
Aleman was indicted by a state grand jury in April following an investigation by the Tucson Police Department.
Aleman, who is being represented by the Pima County Defenders Office, pleaded not guilty to the charges on May 27 in Arizona Superior Court in Tucson. He was released on bail pending court proceedings next month, court records show.
Pima FCU President/CEO Eric Renaud declined to comment when reached Thursday because it is the credit union’s policy not to comment on open legal cases.