A former teller at a Mamaroneck bank was arrested on Feb. 12 and accused of purloining more than $1 million last year.
Daniel A. Acebo was charged with embezzlement, misapplication by a bank officer, in U.S. District Court, White Plains.
The bank, which is not identified in the charging papers, hired Acebo as a business banker in 2023. One of his duties was to report how much cash was in the bank vault at the end of the day. But Acebo, according to an FBI agent’s probable cause arrest affidavit, created false cash balance reports and forged a supervisor’s signature to conceal thefts.
A state banking regulation led to the discovery of cash shortages. All employees in sensitive positions must be locked out of a bank’s electronic systems for several days every year. Acebo, according to the arrest affidavit, asked for an exception to the rule, but his request was denied.
While he was on vacation in December, a teller reconciling the bank’s daily cash balance discovered a discrepancy. Acebo’s last report said the vault contained $1,145,050, as of Dec. 10, an amount that greatly exceeded the bank’s limit.
Bank officials found a little more than $100,000 in the vault.
Video recordings taken near the bank vault and Acebo’s teller station from November to mid-December allegedly show him stealing cash.
On Nov. 1, for instance, the video shows Acebo taking four packets of money totaling an estimated $13,000 from a drawer at his teller station. He places the packets in a backpack and then leaves the bank, according to the arrest affidavit. On other days he can be seen removing cash from drawers at his teller station, reaching down and apparently putting the money in a sock or a shoe as he pretends to tie his shoes.
Another video allegedly shows Acebo practice signing his supervisor’s signature and then forging the signature on a monthly reconciliation report.
Acebo allegedly concealed thefts by creating two versions of the daily cash balance reports, beginning last June. One version showed the actual cash balance in the vault and included a supervisor’s approval. The other version showed an inflated amount to seemingly “balance the bank’s books.”
He forged his supervisor’s signature on the inflated reports, according to the arrest affidavit, and forwarded the reports to bank headquarters to be incorporated into the electronic books.
On Oct. 31, for instance, the cash balance report showed $46,750 in the vault, and is signed by Acebo’s supervisor. That report was accurate, according to the arrest affidavit. But the report sent to headquarters showed $945,750 and the supervisor’s signature was forged.
From June 1 through Dec. 17, the arrest affidavit states, Acebo made 135 cash deposits at ATMs that totaled more than $600,000. The ATMs were at Connecticut bank branches in Darien, Greenwich, Riverside and Stamford, and at Westchester bank branches in Mamaroneck, Port Chester, and Rye.
Magistrate Judge Andrew E. Krause bailed Acebo upon posting of a $250,000 bond. He ordered Acebo to refrain from online gambling and from betting at gambling establishments.
Acebo’s attorney, Deveraux L. Cannick, did not reply to an email asking for a response to the allegations.
