Bank Insider Drains $195,000 From Churches, Kids Museum and Customers, Fakes Own Death To Prevent Recovery of Incriminating Evidence: US Department of Justice

A bank employee is pleading guilty to stealing from the lender’s customers and lying to conceal her guilt, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

The Eastern District says Truist Bank employee, Ahshah Dior Martin, stole $195,000 from at least 70 Truist Bank accounts.

Martin started gathering banking information on her would-be victims in 2023 after improperly accessing the bank’s computer systems.

“Then, she initiated fraudulent debits and withdrawals from these accounts for her own benefit. For instance, Martin repeatedly initiated payments from customer bank accounts to a child support payment processor, through which Martin paid herself.”

The victims Martha stole from while working at Truist Bank were diverse and comprised of both individuals and entities, according to the Eastern District. They included “multiple churches, a children’s museum, an eye tissue bank non-profit organization, manufacturing and construction companies, a small business making customized holsters, and the North Carolina Wing of the Civil Air Patrol.”

Truist Bank fired Martin in April of 2024 but she frustrated efforts by the eighth-largest US bank by total assets to retrieve the computer she had been issued at work.

“To conceal her wrongdoing and prevent the return of her Truist laptop, Martin faked her own death. On April 17, 2024, in response to an email from Truist asking for the computer, Martin responded, “Sorry to inform you, she has passed away.””

The former Truist Bank employee spent the money she stole on “cosmetic products, clothing, travel expenses, dining, and at a hookah bar,” the Eastern District says.

Martin faces up to three decades in prison. She will be sentenced in November.

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