Teller Jailed For Theft From Elderly Aunt

SAN FRANCISCO – A former teller at San Mateo CU who stole $40,000 from her elderly aunt and the $33,000 inheritance of a teenager whose mother had died on Wednesday was sentenced to a year in jail.

Arcelia Aguilar, 29, fraudulently obtained her job as a teller at the credit union’s Redwood City branch by using her mother’s Social Security number when she applied. On June 2, 2009, Aguilar transferred $33,000 from a 16-year-old girl’s bank account to her own, according to court records. And on July 3 she stole $40,000 from her 74-year-old aunt’s account and deposited it into her own account.

By the time she was arrested later that month, Aguilar had $5,000 of the stolen money left. The rest was spent paying down her credit card debt, according to prosecutors.

Last August, Aguilar pleaded no contest to felony grand theft and felony elder fiscal abuse counts in a deal to avoid state prison.

Aguilar was ordered to pay restitution to the credit union, which had already returned the stolen $73,000 to the victims.

 

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