State Crime Reports

Polo Woman Indicted For Embezzling More Than $59,000 From First State Bank


ROCKFORD —(ENEWSPF)–October 22, 2015.  A Polo, Ill. woman was charged yesterday by a federal grand jury for embezzling funds.  KAYLA BERGSTROM, 46, of Polo, Ill., was First Vice-President of First State Bank, with branches located in Polo and Shannon, Ill.  As alleged in the indictment, as Vice-President, Bergstrom had the highest security level assigned in the bank’s software program which controlled all customer bank accounts, the bank’s general ledger accounts, adding new accounts, and the maintenance of all bank accounts.  Bergstrom’s responsibilities included reconciling all of the bank’s correspondent accounts including the bank’s correspondent account with US Bank.  The indictment alleges that between Feb. 23, 2010 and Feb. 3, 2014, Bergstrom embezzled money from First State Bank by creating cash advance tickets for the bank’s correspondent account at US Bank and crediting the amounts of cash advance tickets to her personal account and the business account for her husband’s automobile repair business.  According to the indictment, Bergstrom concealed her embezzlement by changing the balances on the bank’s US Bank account statements by manually cutting and pasting false account balances on the statements.

Embezzlement carries a maximum potential penalty of up to 30 years in prison, up to 5 years of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine of up to $1,000,000.  Bergstrom has since repaid the funds to First State Bank.  If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal sentencing statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.   Bergstrom will be arraigned before United States Magistrate Judge Iain D. Johnston on Oct. 22, 2015, at 11:00 a.m. in U.S. District Court in Rockford.

The public is reminded that an indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The indictment was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Joseph Moriarty, Special Agent in Charge for the Chicago Regional Office, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Office of Inspector General.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph C. Pedersen.

Related Material:

Indictment

Source: www.justice.gov

 


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