WESTFIELD – A former bank employee who allegedly used his position to fraudulently use customers’ debit cards to steal almost $13,000 has been arraigned on a larceny charge.
Southwick Police Sgt.Thomas Krutka reports in a court document that he was advised of an internal investigation by Berkshire Bank officers which was initiated in response to reports by bank customers of fraudulent activity on their debit cards. The customers had all recently received service from a specific employee at the Southwick branch of the bank.
Krutka reports that a bank officer told him that she had discovered video evidence showing that employee, Ras M. Morgan, 26, of 304 Allen Park Drive, Springfield, “changing the pin number for a customer without the customer being present … a direct violation of company policy”.
Krutka was told that Morgan was interviewed by bank officers including his branch manager and asked about changing the customer’s PIN. That meeting ended, Krutka was told, after Morgan “asked the bank manager if he should be reporting for work tomorrow” and then immediately gave his keys to the branch manager. Krutka was told that Morgan’s employment at the bank was was officially terminated the next day.
Krutka alleges that “Ras Morgan, after waiting on the eight customers involved, obtained the debit cards that were being replaced instead destroying them and, either created or changed the pin numbers of said cards, then used said card(s) as his own to make several fraudulent purchases or cash withdrawals.”
Krutka investigated many of the transactions on the customers’ debit cards which had been flagged as fraudulent and was able to recover videos and still photo evidence of many of them. He reports “the individual depicted in these photos looks to be the same black male, however, this male party either pulled his clothing tight around his face or was wearing a black mask to conceal his identity.” In some cases the suspect was seen placing his hand in front of cameras installed to monitor ATM locations
Krutka considered the suspect’s physical features, clothing and mannerisms and reports his opinion that the same man is depicted in all of the photos in question. Morgan’s co-workers identified him as the subject in many of the photos Krutka collected and they also identified a woman seen with him in several of the photos as his girlfriend who had once come to the bank to confront one of Morgan’s female co-workers
In at least one video record, the person in question was seen exiting a vehicle with a legible registration plate on his way to an ATM where a fraudulent transaction occurred. The registration plate revealed the vehicle to be owned by Morgan.
Krutka reports that the bank’s security and fraud investigation officer advised him that the bank had credited the accounts of the eight customers who suffered from the fraudulent activity which resulting in a loss for the bank of $12,990.42.
Morgan was arraigned in Westfield District Court on Monday before Judge William O’Grady on a charge of larceny of property valued more than $1,200 by a single scheme. He was released on his personal recognizance pending an Aug. 1 hearing.
