Ex-Bank Worker Charged With Embezzling $660,000

A former employee of Bank of America in North Hollywood was indicted this week on charges of embezzling $660,000 from bank customers, officials said.

Phyllis R. Isenberg, 64, was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on six counts of bank and mail fraud, said Grace Denton, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office.

Isenberg allegedly took customers’ money that was intended for deposit but never actually placed it in an account.

Instead, she issued phony receipts to the customers and kept the money for herself, Denton said.

When customers came to withdraw their money, Isenberg gave them money taken from the accounts of other customers.

Officials discovered her activities after she retired from the bank in 1988 and determined the fraud had gone on since 1983, Denton said.

“When she retired, she could not do that anymore,” Denton said.

If convicted, Isenberg could receive a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and be fined up to $1.26 million.

She will be arraigned in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Sept. 4.