Fraud Friday — Chase Business Relationship Manager Steals $1.25 Million Dollars from 82-Year-Old Customer

December 18, 2020

Caity Roach
Editor

Fraud Friday — Chase Business Relationship Manager Steals $1.25 Million Dollars from 82-Year-Old Customer

Jacob Roach, a former Tucson-based business relationship manager at a Chase Bank has been sentenced to 40 months in federal prison for stealing a total of $1.25 million from an 82-year-old bank customer. 

On October 4, 2016, Roach convinced an unwitting bank customer, who already had several accounts at Chase, to open a new account entitled the “P.C.A. Scholarship Fund.” Roach linked the Scholarship Fund to the client’s other accounts and then covertly ordered himself a debit card connected to the new account. About two weeks later, Roach resigned from Chase Bank. 

Despite no-longer working for Chase, Roach continued to access the bank customer’s account. Prosecutors say that Roach transferred over a million dollars out of his former client’s personal savings and business accounts into the Scholarship Fund. He then withdrew funds from the Scholarship Fund Account using the debit card. 

In total, Roach successfully stole $1.25 million from his former client using the funds for his own personal benefit. In the sentencing memo, Roach’s fraud was described as “pure greed of a vast magnitude.”

When the fraud was discovered, Roach entered a plea deal and was forced to sell off a $90,000 Porsche, a $190,000 property in Utah, and two Tucson-area properties worth a total of about $350,000. Roach also forfeited over $115,000 collectively stashed in three personal bank accounts. Despite his best efforts, Roach still came up about $405,000 short, and Chase Bank had to pick up the loss.

Sources: 
Indictment
Department of Justice
Tucson News

Other Pending Fraud Cases Coleman is Following:
U.S. v. Kerri Agee, Kelli Isley, Nicole Smith, Chad Griffin, and Matthew Smith (Trial Date: February 1, 2021)
FDIC v. Washington Federal Bank for Savings et al (Trial Date: Not Set)