Employee Admits $520K Theft From South Jersey Bank: Officials

MOUNT LAUREL, NJ — A South Jersey man pleaded guilty to bank fraud after officials say he stole more than $520,000 from a local bank while working in a customer call center.

Jamere Hill-Birdsong, 33, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud Tuesday according to U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger. Court documents show he has an address in Pennsauken.

Lamar Melhado of the Bronx was also involved in the conspiracy, officials said. He has been sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty, Sellinger said.

Officials say Hill-Birdsong worked at the bank's customer call center in Mount Laurel from 2016-2016. He recruited other employees to steal customers' identities and account information, Sellinger said.

Those employees would take photographs or screenshots of the customers' account information and signatures, and send it to Melhado and Hill-Birdsong, according to officials.

"The conspirators then had phony identification documents made in the names of the bank customers, and used various runners to go into bank branches and make unauthorized cash withdrawals," Sellinger's office said. "The conspirators also used the stolen identity information to conduct unauthorized online transfers of moneys from the customer’s accounts."

Officials did not say which bank they admitted to stealing from.

Sellinger said Hill-Birdsong faces a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine, or twice the gain or loss from the theft. Hill-Birdsong agreed to pay $523,000 in restitution.