Brink’s Driver Stole More Than $1 Million From Michigan CUs & Banks, Feds Allege

A former Brink’s driver is facing 12 felony counts of bank larceny after he allegedly stole more than $1 million from credit union and bank ATMs in Michigan over a six-week period, federal court documents showed.

A jury trial has been scheduled for June after Reginald Carman pleaded not guilty to the larceny charges in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. He was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond.

Although Carman returned most of the money in piecemeal amounts during four meetings with a Brink’s regional manager, more than $22,000 is still missing.

The investigation began in January when an FBI special agent interviewed a representative at the $960 million LAFCU in Lansing who reported $350,000 had been missing from certain ATMs since mid-December.

Brink’s Regional Manager Jeremiah Weiker had already begun investigating what happened to the missing funds from LAFCU ATMs and other ATMs at other credit unions and banks, according to the FBI. When he worked for Brink’s, Carman serviced these ATMs.

Weiker told the FBI that he identified Carman as a suspect after viewing video security camera footage that showed the former Brink’s driver allegedly placed money from a Brink’s “clear bag” into a Brink’s “clear bag/lunch box” on Dec. 21. The security company said it issues these clear bags to their employees so that lunch and personal belongings can be observed by surveillance if necessary.

Later that day, shortly before arriving back at the Brink’s Lansing branch, Carman stopped the Brink’s truck and allegedly placed the clear bag/lunch box into a truck or SUV, according to the FBI investigation.

Weiker contacted Carman, demanding that he return all the funds he was suspected of stealing. When they met on Jan. 6, Carman returned $650,000. The former Brink’s driver told Weiker that his father passed away and his “’mind was not right’ when he stole the money,” though he conceded that he could not justify his actions or give any reason as to why he took the funds, according to the FBI.

Weiker, however, continued his investigation and determined that the amount of money that was missing was greater than the amount of cash Carman had initially returned. After Weiker contacted Carman, again, and demanded that he return all of the funds, Carman allegedly said he would “look around his home to see if he has missed some money,” according to the FBI. When they met for a second time on Jan. 12, he returned $250,000.

Later that month, Weiker discovered more funds were still missing. When he met with Carman for a third time on Jan. 26, he returned an additional $76,000.

In February, Brink’s became aware of additional money missing from another bank ATM. When Weiker met with Carman for the fourth time, he returned an additional $60,000.

Nevertheless, Brink’s determined additional money was still missing.

According to court documents, Carman allegedly stole $1,060,200 from Nov. 15 to Dec. 28 from three credit unions and four banks. Although Carman returned $1,037,940, a total of $22,260 is still missing.