Olson, 49, of Kings County, stole cash from four people who were members of a credit union in Tulare between July 2022 through August of that year, court documents filed in federal court in Fresno say. — Reuters
The assistant branch manager of a California credit union secretly withdrew more than US$60,000 (RM280,350) from customers’ accounts and spent the money on TikTok, according to federal prosecutors who said she then resigned from her job.
Esther Andrade Olson, 49, of Kings County, stole cash from four people who were members of a credit union in Tulare between July 2022 through August of that year, court documents filed in federal court in Fresno say.
She’s accused of doing so to “support others and promote herself on TikTok, and to send money to her boyfriend in Texas” – a man with hundreds of thousands of followers who she met over the video-sharing social media platform, an FBI special agent wrote in an affidavit.
Olson sent the majority of the money as gifts over TikTok to her boyfriend while repeatedly travelling to visit him, the affidavit says. TikTok users can buy virtual coins on the platform and send other users the coins as gifts that get converted into cash.
When Olson was confronted by officials at the credit union about withdrawals from one victim’s account in September 2022, she said the customer withdrew money for home remodelling projects – which was a lie, according to the affidavit.
Meanwhile, she told a co-worker “I know how this goes. I’m done” and suddenly resigned from her position as assistant manager without notice, the affidavit says.
On Nov 6, Olson pleaded guilty in connection with embezzling more than US$60,000 (RM280,350) from credit union members’ accounts, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California announced in a news release.
McClatchy News contacted Olson’s defense attorney for comment on Nov 7 and didn’t receive an immediate response.
Customers owed money
Olson has agreed to pay full restitution to the four customers she’s accused of stealing from, according to her plea agreement. She owes them no more than US$65,000 (RM303,745), the agreement shows.
According to the affidavit, Olson made seven cash withdrawals from one victim’s account and stole more than US$35,000 (RM163,555) from them.
A second victim had over US$18,000 (RM84,114) stolen from their accounts, a third had more than US$7,000 (RM32,711) and a fourth victim had US$80 (RM373) stolen, the affidavit says.
Olson was able to make the unauthorised withdrawals “while assisting other credit union members who were at the teller window to make it appear as though she had legitimate reasons to access the credit union’s cash stores”, prosecutors said in the release.
Olson faces up to 30 years in prison and a US$1mil (RM4.67mil) fine at her sentencing hearing scheduled for March 4.
Tulare is about 45 miles southeast of Fresno. – The Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service
