Bank manager charged with embezzlement
WEST CHESTER » In what authorities called “an elaborate scheme,” a Parkesburg borough councilman has been charged with stealing more than $100,000 from customers at the bank where he worked as a branch manager.
The primary victim in the case included the account of a special needs individual, but other targets of the scheme included a dead man whose account was dormant. In all, eight accounts were illegally accessed, according to a criminal complaint.
Arrested was Anthony “Tony” Rife, who had worked as a manager for the Downingtown National Bank at locations in West
Whiteland and Ludwig’s Corner. He was charged with counts of theft by unlawful taking, theft by deception, receiving stolen property, access device fraud, computer trespassing, and dealing in proceeds of illegal activities.
He is free on bail of $75,000 awaiting a July 12 preliminary hearing before District Judge John Bailey of West Whiteland.
“People trust bank employees to handle their money with integrity,” said District Attorney Tom Hogan in a press release about the arrest. “The defendant violated that trust and abused his authority. Now he will pay the price for his greed.”
Rife, 38, of Parkesburg, was elected to borough council there in November 2017. He currently serves as chairman of the Projects Committee. On Tuesday, borough Manager L. James “Jim” Thomas said that he had been made aware of Rife’s arrest, but that Rife had not submitted his resignation. Thomas declined comment on the case.
DNB released the following statement: “The safety and security of our customers and their accounts is our top priority, and we are cooperating with law enforcement authorities in this matter.”
According to a criminal complaint filed earlier this month by Chester County Detective Keith Cowdright, an investigator trained in financial fraud cases, indicates that between October 2015 and August 2017 Rife drained thousands of dollars from an account he had set up for the guardians of a special needs person without their permission. He would replenish the account over roughly that same period of time by transferring funds from other DNB customers’ accounts without their knowledge, sometimes signing their name on withdrawal slips.
The scheme was discovered by bank officials in July, after the account holder for the special needs person — identified only as Victim No. 1 — called the Ludwig’s Corner branch to make a withdrawal from the account while Rife, who the person normally dealt with, was out of the office.
The person with whom Victim No. 1 spoke said that the account did not have sufficient funds to cover the requested withdrawal. Victim No. 1 stated that the account should have had in excess of $20,000. When bank personnel began looking into the account, they found a number of withdrawals from it authorized by Rife, as well as a number of deposits into the account from the accounts of other customers, including the dead man.
A detailed forensic review of Rife’s activities revealed how he allegedly had been stealing money from eight different victims. He used the account of Victim No. 1 as the primary vehicle for his thefts, accessing the accounts of the other victims and transferring money from those accounts to Victim No. 1’s trust account to conceal the money he had previously taken. According to the complaint, Rife created a complex web of transactions both to access money and cover up his activities. The defendant even activated the dormant account of Richard Baker, a dead man, as part of his scheme.
In total, the defendant stole $118,771.18 from the eight victims. DNB terminated his employment after learning of the scheme last year. He was charged on June 7.
An attorney who represents Rife, Michael Skinner of West Chester, said that his client maintains his innocence.
“We are going to vigorously defend this case, and my client looks forward to his day in court,” said Skinner Tuesday.
In his press release, Hogan added that “DNB did an excellent job working with the District Attorney’s Office to investigate this complex scheme after it was discovered. A determined insider is always a threat to engage in fraud because of their knowledge of internal operations. But sooner or later, these schemes are discovered and prosecuted.”
Assistant District Attorney Ryan Borchik has been assigned to prosecute this case. Detective Cowdright is the primary investigator. Anybody with information about Rife is urged to contact Detective Cowdright at 610-344-6866.