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Date: 06-11-2021
Case Style:
Case Number: 2:20-cr-00044-LSC-SMD
Judge: L. Scott Coogler
Court: United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama (Mongomery County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: United States District Attorney’s Office
Defendant's Attorney:
Description: Montgomery, Alabama criminal defense lawyer represented defendant charged with financial fraud.
Tiffany Culliver Franklin, 41, of Montgomery, was found guilty on all charges in a financial fraud case. On April 7, 2021, a federal grand jury for the Middle District of Alabama charged Franklin with violations of 18 U.S.C. §§ 656 (theft or embezzlement by a bank employee) and 1344(1) (bank fraud), which carry a maximum potential sentence of 30 years, and 18 U.S.C. § 1343 (wire fraud), which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years.
The jury heard evidence that between June 2015 and July 18, 2017, Franklin was a vault teller with Branch Banking and Trust Company (BB&T), working at a local branch in Montgomery. An internal audit revealed that the vault drawers under Franklin’s control were short $202,000. Franklin gave a written statement to a bank investigator in which she expressed remorse for her conduct and admitted to embezzling $202,000 from the bank.
The jury also heard evidence that from January 2012 to December 2014, Franklin was employed as a personal banker at a Wells Fargo branch in downtown Montgomery. In October 2014, Franklin used her Wells Fargo credentials to create and obtain a debit card to make numerous ATM check deposits into and immediate cash withdrawals from an elderly customer’s account. A Wells Fargo investigator interviewed Franklin, who admitted that she had issued the debit card in the elderly customer’s name and had been using ATMs to deposit checks from her own bank account into the customer’s Wells Fargo account.
Finally, the jury heard evidence that from September 2017 to June 2018, Franklin worked as a bookkeeper at Goodwyn Middle School (GMS) in Montgomery. Evidence introduced at trial established that during her time as GMS’s bookkeeper, Franklin stole at least $13,216 in money and property that belonged to GMS. She stole $6,995 in money taken in by GMS that should have been deposited into the school’s bank account. Franklin also diverted for her personal benefit $675 taken in by GMS through gate receipts at various athletic events and $3,074 taken in by GMS from various classroom teachers. Moreover, Franklin withdrew from and failed to redeposit into GMS’s bank account $2,400 meant for use at various GMS athletic events. Finally, Franklin used a GMS-issued Walmart Community Card to make unauthorized purchases of various personal items, including Walmart gift cards. In September 2019, during an interview with investigators from the Alabama Attorney General’s Office, Franklin confessed to stealing GMS’s money and gambling with it at casinos.
The United States Secret Service and the Alabama Attorney General’s Office investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorneys Sinan Kalayoglu and Justin Roller are prosecuting the case.
18:656 Theft or Embezzlement by Bank Employee
(1)
18:656-THEFT/EMBEZZLEMENT/MISAPPLICATION BY BANK OFFICER
(1s)
18 USC 656 THEFT/EMBEZZLEMENT/MISAPPLICATION BY BANK OFFICER. Forfeiture Allegations.
(1ss)
18:1344(1)-BANK FRAUD; FORFEITURE ALLEGATIONS
(2s-3s)
18 USC 1344(1) BANK FRAUD. Forfeiture Allegations.
(2ss-3ss)
18 USC 1343 FRAUD BY WIRE, RADIO, OR TELEVISION. Forfeiture Allegations.
(5ss-6ss)
18 USC 1343 FRAUD BY WIRE, RADIO, OR TELEVISION. Forfeiture Allegations.
(8ss)
Outcome: 06/08/2021 Minute Entry for proceedings held before Honorable L. Scott Coogler:Jury Trial continues as to Tiffany Culliver Franklin held on 6/8/2021 (See Final Minute Entry for PDF ) (Court Reporter Blanton Callen.) (ws ) (Entered: 06/08/2021)
06/08/2021 ORAL MOTION for Acquittal on counts 1, 2 and 3 by Tiffany Culliver Franklin. (ws, ) (Entered: 06/08/2021)
06/08/2021 ORAL ORDER denying ORAL Motion for Acquittal Counts 1, 2, and 3 as to Tiffany Culliver Franklin (1). Signed by Honorable L. Scott Coogler on 6/8/21. (ws, ) (Entered: 06/08/2021)
06/08/2021 95 Court's Jury Charge as to Tiffany Culliver Franklin (ws, ) (Entered: 06/08/2021)
06/08/2021 96 REDACTED (for Trial) Second Superseding Indictment by USA as to Tiffany Culliver Franklin (ws, ) (Entered: 06/08/2021)
06/08/2021 97 JURY VERDICT as to Tiffany Culliver Franklin (1) Guilty on Counts 1ss,2ss-3ss,5ss-6ss,8ss. (ws, ) (Entered: 06/08/2021)
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: