By Steve Huffman
Salisbury Post
A former SunTrust Bank teller has pleaded guilty to embezzling almost a half-million dollars over the course of her 15 years of employment.
Sherry Taylor Houpt, a Linwood resident who worked for Central Carolina bank and its successor, SunTrust, in Salisbury, is scheduled to be sentenced May 13 in U.S. Middle District Court in Greensboro.
According to information supplied by the court and Anna Mills Wagoner, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District, Houpt pleaded guilty last week to a single count of embezzlement. Her attorney, David Freedman of Winston-Salem, didn’t return a phone call from the Post on Wednesday. Attempts to reach Houpt were unsuccessful.
A spokesman for SunTrust said the bank wouldn’t comment on the matter. Court documents indicate the banks losses were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
According to the U.S. District Court, Houpt was employed by SunTrust as a vault teller at several branches in Salisbury, the last being the branch at 2070 Statesville Blvd.
In March 2007, the bank operations section of SunTrust determined that an incoming $50,000 cash shipment to the vault at Houpt’s branch was missing. The discovery prompted an audit.
On April 2, 2007, Houpt was interviewed by SunTrust’s regional security manager about the shortage and admitted that she had been taking money from the bank without authorization during the 15 years she worked as a vault teller.
According to court records, Houpt said she started by taking small amounts of money and recording bank deposits in a manner to make it appear the missing money was still in the bank vault.
On some occasions, she would take a portion of incoming cash shipments from the armored car companies to force the vault into balance. Houpt said that most of the money she took was spent in restaurants or while shopping with her family on weekends.
During the April 2 interview, Houpt estimated she had taken $395,000 from the vault during her employment with Central Carolina and SunTrust, including $50,000 she withdrew from customer accounts without authorization on March 23, 2007, to cover the missing $50,000 that officials with bank operations were asking about.
Further investigation by SunTrust security personnel determined that Houpt had withdrawn additional amounts from customer accounts, resulting in a total loss to the bank of $492,222.
Houpt was fired by SunTrust on April 9, 2007.
According to a plea agreement with the U.S. Middle District Court, Houpt:
– Will enter a voluntary plea of guilty to the indictment though the court must still prove she’s guilty.
– Understands that the maximum term of imprisonment provided by law for the indictment is not more than 30 years and the maximum fine cannot exceed $1 million, or both.
– Understands that the court has the option to impose a term of not more than five years of probation following her imprisonment.
– Understands that the court may make her pay restitution to any victim.
– Understands that the court is not bound by the sentencing range prescribed by the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
– Understands the court may require that she pay an assessment of $100 for each offense to which she is pleading guilty.
– Knows that by pleading guilty she gives up her constitutional rights to plead not guilty.
– Agrees to plead guilty because she is, in fact, guilty.
Contact Steve Huffman at 704-797-4222 or shuffman@salisburypost.com.