Richland credit union employee charged with stealing $75,000 in cash from ATM
When an audit of a HAPO Credit Union mobile ATM showed it had $76,000, officials knew something was wrong.
The machine is only designed to hold $40,000.
What officials found was that the machine had been tampered with allowing an employee to steal more than $75,000 in cash, according to charges filed recently in Benton County Superior Court.
Meaghan Brooks, 40, of Richland, is charged with first-degree theft with a major economic offense.
Brooks worked for the credit union as a mobile branch financial service specialist for about three years. She was responsible for taking the mobile ATM to events, and refilling it with cash.
According to a Tri-Cities Journal of Business profile, Brooks helped found the program which was designed to be a hybrid of community relations and banking.
It allowed the credit union to be involved in community events, according to the profile.
While she was part of the program, officials say she made seven questionable transfers over the course of seven months. The amounts ranged between $6,000 and $20,000.
She allegedly told officials that she had recently suffered “insurmountable financial problems” and had planned to repay the money.
Brooks said she believed she only took $28,000.
Internal audit
Richland police were called to the Williams Boulevard branch of the credit union in January 2022 after an internal audit showed the mobile ATM was supposed to be holding $76,000, according to court documents.
Since it was more than the machine could physically hold, the vice president of branch management decided to look closer and discovered there weren’t any logged transactions since Oct. 23, 2021.
When they investigated further, they learned the power cables had been disconnected. That made the machine look like it was working, but it couldn’t process any transactions.
Staff members reported that Brooks would allegedly reload the internal cash storage in the machine by herself, a violation of the credit union’s policy.
That allegedly gave her access to the cash without triggering the machine’s record-keeping systems.
“The defendant’s supervisor would later note that the defendant had grown increasingly possessive of the ATM at issue and repeatedly avoided allowing him to complete routine cash balance checks, by having other staff members complete them instead,” according to charging documents.
The vice president identified seven dates between July and January when funds had been requested.
Brooks was told about the internal investigation on Jan. 28. Three days later she turned in her resignation letter, which detailed her money problems and said she had “irrationally turned to a solution, that in hindsight, was a poor decision.”
When her direct supervisor talked to her about the resignation, she allegedly admitted to the theft, according to court documents.
“The defendant was visibly upset and emotional during their conversation and staff ultimately escorted the defendant to a nearby mental health center,” according to court records.
It’s unclear why there was a delay in charges being filed or if she has repaid any of the money.