Press Release
United States Attorney James R. Dedrick
Eastern District of Tennessee
CONTACT: SHARRY DEDMAN-BEARD
PHONE: 865-545-4167
FAX: 865-545-4176
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
FORMER HOME FEDERAL BRANCH MANAGER IS SENTENCED IN BANK FRAUD CASE
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE—Brenda Brabson, 52, of Knoxville, Tennessee was sentenced today by the Honorable Leon Jordan, United States District Judge, to serve twelve (12) months and one (1) day in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release. This sentence followed Brabson's guilty plea to bank fraud charges on March 30, 2006.
On February 28, 2006, United States Attorney James R. Dedrick filed an Information in the United States District Court charging Brabson with engaging in a scheme to defraud Home Federal Bank by embezzling funds from Home Federal customer accounts and fraudulently obtaining loans in a Home Federal customer's name without that customer's knowledge.
According to court documents, Brabson admitted that while working as a branch manager and vice president of Home Federal Bank, Knoxville, Tennessee, she prepared and submitted false and fraudulent loan applications in the name of a Home Federal Bank customer without that customer’s permission and obtained the proceeds of the loans. Brabson then converted the proceeds of the fraudulent loans to her own use and used the proceeds of the fraudulent loans to pay-off other fraudulent loans as they came due and to conceal her embezzlement of funds stolen from Home Federal customer accounts, causing Home Federal Bank a loss of $66,115.89.
Brabson further admitted that while working as a branch manager and vice president of Home Federal Bank, Knoxville, Tennessee, she embezzled money from the checking and savings accounts of Home Federal Bank customers, causing Home Federal Bank a loss of $92,203.12. In total, Brabson's scheme to defraud Home Federal Bank caused the bank a loss of $158,319.01.
This investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney F. M. (Trey) Hamilton III rerpesented the government.
For further information, contact U.S. Attorney James R. Dedrick, Assistant U.S. Attorney F. M. Hamilton III, or Public Information Officer Sharry Dedman-Beard, at 865-545-4167.