Bank Employee Stole $100K From Elderly Clients: State Police

KENT, CT — A bank employee is accused of stealing more than $100,000 from several elderly clients of Webster Bank in Kent, according to Connecticut State Police.

Police began investigating in June after the Kent resident trooper was contacted by a Webster Bank representative who reported a theft of funds from the bank on North Main Street in Kent.

The bank representative told police that a Webster Bank employee, identified as 44-year-old Arron Parsons of Kent, was being investigated for a theft of funds from elderly banking clients.

“During their initial investigation, the bank identified unusual account activity in the form of increased cash withdrawals from the savings account of an elderly client of the Kent branch location,” police wrote in a news release. “Upon reviewing the corresponding withdrawal tickets, the Webster Banking Center Manager observed that the handwriting on the tickets resembled Parson’s handwriting and not the client’s handwriting. The Banking Center Manager then reviewed security video footage of these transactions and determined that the elderly banking client was not present at the banking center when the withdrawals were conducted. Banking transactions conducted by Parsons were identified by his employee identification number.

“According to bank representatives, when interviewed regarding the cash withdrawals, Parsons admitted to bank investigators that he had conducted the unauthorized cash withdrawals identified through the investigative review and identified clients whose accounts he had withdrawn funds from. According to Parsons, once he withdrew funds, he would deposit the funds into his own bank account for personal use. Parsons indicated that he felt badly about taking the funds and intended to replace the funds he had taken. According to Parsons, on one occasion he had replaced a portion of the funds he had taken from one of the clients.”

Police said a review of Parsons accounts found that from September 2022 through February 2023, his accounts were funded “primarily by ATM and over-the-counter cash deposits.”

“During this review, several cash deposits were identified which coincided with the amounts of the unauthorized cash withdrawals conducted by Parsons on a particular day,” police wrote.

During the investigation initiated by the bank, police said it was learned that between Feb. 22, 2022 and Feb. 21, 2023, Parsons conducted approximately 39 unauthorized withdrawals from five accounts, held by five different Banking Center clients, which totaled more than $100,000.

All five clients were contacted by bank representatives, and each confirmed that the transactions in question were conducted without their consent, according to police.

Police said the affected clients were subsequently reimbursed for the unauthorized withdrawals.

“The investigating Trooper was provided with copies of security video footage depicting Parsons appearing to complete withdrawal tickets associated with the unauthorized withdrawals at times when the affected clients were not present,” police wrote. “After conducting a thorough review of the information and evidence provided by the bank, investigating Troopers applied for and were granted a warrant for Arron Parsons' arrest.”

Parsons was arrested Jan. 5 and charged with first-degree larceny. He was held in lieu of a $160,000 bond and was scheduled to appear in court on Monday.