Bank Employee Hijacks Dead Customer’s Account, Drains $105,000 in Morbid Money Scheme: DOJ

A former employee at a commercial bank in the US just pleaded guilty to draining $105,000 from a deceased customer’s account.

The US Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey says Jorge Nova has pleaded guilty to a count of wire fraud and faces a 30 year prison sentence.

Nova was working at an unnamed commercial bank in Nutley, New Jersey when he came across a deceased customer’s account that had continued to collect Social Security benefits by direct deposit.

The retiree, who was receiving $2,372 per month in benefits, passed away on August 29th, 2014 – but the Social Security Administration (SSA) was not notified of the person’s death.

Consequently, the beneficiary’s account continued to receive funds from the SSA for more than four years.

After noticing the ongoing deposits, Nova used his position at the bank to tap into the account, obtain a debit card in the beneficiary’s name and siphon funds from the deceased victim. Nova created new accounts with a money service provider under the beneficiary’s name to execute the scheme and help obtain the cash.

The scheme lasted until October 2018, when Nova had illegally obtained a total of $105,000 from the deceased beneficiary’s bank accounts.

Nova now faces a maximum penalty of 30 years behind bars with a maximum fine of $250,000. He is slated to be sentenced on October 8th.