A former bank employee pleaded guilty Wednesday to taking over $105,000 in federal retirement benefits from a deceased customer’s account, U.S. Attorney Phillip R. Sellinger said Thursday.
Jorge Nova, 35, of Passaic, admitted to one count of wire fraud in federal court and faces sentencing scheduled for Oct. 18.
Nova was an employee at a commercial bank in Nutley between 2011 and April 2015. He began withdrawing money from the customer’s account soon after the man’s death in August 2014, federal authorities said.
The Social Security Administration was never notified of the customer’s death and continued monthly deposits of $2,373 into the deceased customer’s account for over four years, authorities said.
Nova withdrew over $105,000 from the customer’s account using debit cards issued in the customer’s name, authorities said.
Nova created new accounts with a money service provider in the customer’s name to withdraw money from a second account associated with the customer, authorities said.
He withdrew a total of $45,000 between January 2015 and July 2016, and an additional $60,000 from the accounts between August 2016 and October 2018, authorities said.
An attorney for Nova did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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