Thursday, March 28, 2002
The man went on to work at another bank.
WARREN -- A Howland man accused of stealing more than $12,000 from his former employer, Second National Bank, has pleaded innocent to charges in the case.
Donald Seem, 36, of Black Oak Drive, was arrested earlier this week after turning himself in to police. He pleaded innocent to one count of felony theft and three felony counts of forgery before visiting Judge Donald R. Ford Jr.
Seem was released on a personal recognizance bond while he awaits a preliminary hearing at 1:30 p.m. May 14 in front of municipal Judge Tom Gysegem.
Accountant: Sgt. Al Bansky, in charge of the Warren Police Department's financial crimes unit, said Seem was a staff accountant with Second National but left in June 2001, when he was hired by First Place Bank, also in Warren.
Officials at First Place declined to comment and would not say whether Seem was still employed there.
Bansky said that between July 2000 and May 2001 at Second National, Seem took general ledger tickets and forged names and initials of higher-ranking bank officials who needed to give approval.
He presented them to a teller and withdrew the money, keeping $12,870, Bansky said.
Cover-up alleged: Seem then went onto the bank computer and tried to cover up the withdrawn money but was unable to offset some of it, Bansky said.
An employee found there were misappropriated funds while performing an audit, and the bank contacted police, Bansky said.