Pennsylvania bank manager accused of stealing more than $31,000 from 6 dead customers’ accounts

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Pennsylvania bank manager accused of stealing more than ,000 from 6 dead customers’ accounts

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In Pennsylvania, authorities have charged a former bank manager, saying he took tens of thousands of dollars from dead bank customers.

According to a release from the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office, Jeri Mains, 43, a former First Commonwealth Bank bank manager in Derry, allegedly stole more than $31,000 from six different accounts belonging to deceased people (1).

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The district attorney’s release says the bank’s internal investigation found “internal fraud tickets” in accounts allegedly accessed by Main.

“Derry Police said accounts were accessed by Mains without authorization or consent between April 1, 2026 and May 1, 2026, withdrawing a total of $31,769.80 from six accounts,” the release said.

The police investigation also found that Mains allegedly “prepared withdrawal tickets to withdraw money from the account, often when there were no customers in the bank at the time of the transaction.”

The district attorney’s release also said Mains is accused of forging the signatures of other deceased account holders, other bank employees and “converting accounts from restricted to active in an attempt to withdraw money.”

Charges against Main include forgery, theft by taking and receiving stolen property.

‘Horrified’ by the allegations

According to CBS News Pittsburgh, the criminal complaint alleges that Mains withdrew just over $4,500 on April 1, and then two days later, forged another employee’s signature to withdraw $1,300 from another deceased person’s account (2).

“Investigators said surveillance video shows him depositing the money into his bank account,” CBS reported.

Mains allegedly took about $2,200 on April 8, forged another employee’s signature, investigators said, and withdrew about $5,000 from another account that same day, CBS reported.

Police say Mains allegedly made a large withdrawal, more than $10,000, on April 22, then took about $9,000 on May 1 after approving the signature of an absentee bank employee, according to a CBS report.

First Commonwealth Bank customer Tiko Murin told CBS he was “shocked” to hear the allegations.

“I’ve worked here for a long time. The people are friendly, the kind of people you wouldn’t think would do something unusual,” Murin told CBS.

Another customer, William Snyder, told CBS (3) he was “disappointed” and “surprised” to hear the allegations.

“Jeri is one of the reasons I banked there. He’s an amazing person. A very nice person, very kind, very articulate,” Snyder told CBS.

“If it’s true, he should pay the price, but again, I don’t like to see people being judged in court by public opinion before they get a chance at due process,” Snyder told CBS.

First Commonwealth Bank told CBS News Pittsburgh that customers affected by the incident have received full refunds.

Read more: Here are 5 fixed expenses Americans overpay for. How many are wasting your budget?

How common is bank employee fraud?

A 2024 report by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) analyzing global employee fraud found that banking and financial services was the most common industry represented (4). The cases studied came from survey respondents from 138 different countries and regions, with 38% of those cases coming from the United States and Canada.

The most common type of fraud scheme in banking and financial services was corruption, followed by cash.

The ACFE report also found that while fraud by owners or managers is more costly, it is often committed by employees or managers.

The most common red flags for employees who committed fraud, according to the report, were “living a lifestyle beyond known sources of income, or means, which 39% of perpetrators demonstrated,” followed by financial problems (27%) and “an unusually close relationship with a vendor/customer” (20%).

Although the bank says the families have been paid in full, not all cases end that way – which is why monitoring the accounts of a deceased relative should be considered as urgent as closure.