Sugar Grove police probe possible $100,000 bank theft

Sugar Grove police are investigating the possible theft of more than $100,000 from a local bank's vault by an employee.

No arrests have been made, but authorities executed a search warrant late last month, and a former bank employee admitted she stole cash to pay bills for her house in foreclosure, according to court records.

A judge approved a search warrant at American Heartland Bank and Trust, 799 Heartland Drive, after it requested an independent auditor investigate.

The auditor found a $109,000 discrepancy on Jan. 24, according to a search warrant.

The auditor spoke with a bank employee, a 30-year-old Plano woman who is not being named because she has yet to be charged, who claimed there was a late day federal reserve transfer to the bank but could not produce the paperwork to prove it.

The woman also spent 30 minutes in the washroom and appeared to have been crying when she came out, a report from the search warrant stated.

A Sugar Grove police officer also interviewed the woman, who admitted she stole $104,000 between early 2011 and early 2012 to pay her mortgage on her home, which was in foreclosure.

“As an employee of the bank (she) had access to the entire vault and admits to having stolen in excess of $100,000,” read part of a warrant to search the woman's bank safety deposit box, which turned up empty.

Sugar Grove Police Chief Pat Rollins said Thursday the matter is still under investigation.

“We need to determine she is the primary suspect,” Rollins said. “We have to wait for all the financial documents to come for review.”