JENNINGS, Mo.–A former credit union employee here has been charged with identity theft after authorities alleged she had helped another person to steal nearly $30,000 from an account.
Prosecutors in St. Louis have charged Tiara Franklin, 28, with identity theft, and Jerry E. Parker III, 22, with receiving stolen property. Another person has also been charged in connection with the case; Brittany Trinell Young, 21, who has been charged with felony stealing and resisting arrest.
According to authorities, Franklin worked in the call center at Vantage Credit Union. After VCU was contacted by members regarding unauthorized transfers in July of 2014, the credit union began to investigate and determined that $29,600 in funds had been moved from three accounts into three other accounts. Police said that in all three cases, members had spoken to Franklin about their accounts, and that Franklin then either changed the online password for those members or enrolled them in online banking without their permission.
In addition, police allege that Franklin then gave the account and password information to a friend who then used it to withdraw funds. Those funds were then placed in an account controlled by Parker and another controlled by Young.
While some funds were transferred, Vantage CU was able to stop the transfer of $7,000 after it learned of the fraud.