http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...ealing-14-million-to-buy-helicopter-land.html I thought only the guys were pulling this shit. Ex-Wachovia Manager Admits to Stealing $14 Million to Buy Helicopter, Land By Chris Dolmetsch - Mar 4, 2011 2:33 PM CT A former Wachovia Bank manager in Virginia pleaded guilty to stealing $14.1 million from bank clients over seven years by persuading them to invest in a bogus wealth-management account. Linda Speaks Tribby, 42, of Lovettsville, Virginia, used the funds to buy a helicopter, a luxury motor home, and rural houses and property, prosecutors said. Tribby entered the plea today to one count of bank fraud in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride said in a statement. She faces as much as 30 years in prison at her sentencing, scheduled for June 3. Tribby had been an employee of Wachovia, bought by Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) in 2008, and its predecessors for more than 25 years, according to the statement. Her last job was as a business relationship manager developing client accounts in and around Loudoun County, Virginia, prosecutors said. From about December 2003 to January, Tribby sold some customers on a âwealth-management account productâ that she said earned tax-free interest -- a product the bank didnât offer -- then transferred funds from their accounts into accounts that she controlled, prosecutors charged. Fake Statements Tribby created fake balance statements for the customers and made periodic interest payments, prosecutors said. She used the money for purchases including a home in West Virginia, a hunting cabin built on about 200 acres of land in New York, a lake house in New York, about 100 acres of property in Nevada, a luxury motor home and a Bell helicopter. An internal investigation uncovered the fraud, and the bank is working to reimburse the affected customers, said Aimee Worlsey, a spokeswoman for San Francisco-based Wells Fargo. âWeâre pleased that this matter, which was an isolated case involving one former team member, has been resolved,â Worsley said in an e-mail. Tribby, who was born and raised in Loudoun County, has been in custody since she was arrested at Dulles International Airport on Jan. 23 after returning from a weeklong trip to Las Vegas and Phoenix with her boyfriend, according to a motion filed by prosecutors in the case last month. Tribby had more than $30,000 in cash in a tote bag when she was arrested and was carrying handwritten notes in her purse addressed to her boyfriend, her husband from whom she is separated, her daughter and her parents admitting responsibility for the crime, apologizing and asking them to âtake care of one another, to stay strong and to keep their faith in God,â according to the motion. The government was able to locate about $5.5 million in bank accounts controlled by Tribby, although more than $8 million remains missing, the motion said. Tribbyâs attorney, Kenneth P. Troccoli, an assistant federal public defender, declined to comment on the case. The case is U.S. v. Tribby, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, 1:11-cr-00106-LO-1. To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Dolmetsch in New York at cdolmetsch@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Pickering at jpickering@bloomberg.net.
maybe she can plea deal the missing 8 mil for probation... enter a settlement and offer the prosecutor a $1M consulting contract. You can't believe the settlement process is in any ones interest except for the attorneys. We have SEC enforcement attorneys cutting deals, retiring with their fat pensions and immediately becoming consultants for the firm they let off.
why even stay in the country if u got away with so much!?!? i mean it was over a period of time but still...
exactly..this is just plain dumb..it's actually dumb in general to do whatever illegal in this country,because the legal system in US is not fun to deal with. when they sum all the counts\charges. in many countries the biggest crime offset\substitute the rest.. she should at least try to be more creative(which probably would lead to more charges and more prison time). but steal the money and buy the shit on your own name is just dumb..we got helicopter ben..here comes the helicopter linda