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Slatington woman charged with stealing over $640K in bank fraud scheme

A Lehigh County woman has been charged for stealing more than $640,000 as part of a bank fraud scheme over the course of several years.

Julie Ann Turk, 46, of Washington Township, was recently charged in an indictment on three counts of money laundering, and one count each of bank fraud and bank embezzlement, announced acting United States Attorney Louis D. Lappen.

Turk was an employee at Allentown Federal Credit Union, in Allentown, where she held various positions and had access to its general ledger accounts and personal accounts.

From January 2009 through April 2016, the indictment said Turk created fraudulent credit union fees, debited the fraudulent fees from Allentown Federal Credit Union’s general ledger accounts, and credited the fraudulent fees to her personal accounts held at the credit union, as well as to the accounts of fraudulent Allentown Federal Credit Union’s customers “M.D.,” “J.G.,” “L.Z.,” “E.V.,” “N.K.” and “J.R.”

She then transferred the fraudulent fees from the customers’ accounts to her personal accounts held at the credit union, and made unauthorized withdrawals from the customers’ accounts.

Turk stole $641,637 from the Allentown Federal Credit Union’s general ledger accounts and customers, and conducted monetary transactions with the proceeds of the bank fraud and bank embezzlement in amounts greater than $10,000.

If convicted, Turk could face a maximum sentence of 90 years imprisonment, a five-year term of supervised release, a $2,500,000 fine, and a $500 special assessment, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Melanie Babb Wilmoth.