A woman who used to live in the tiny northwest Iowa town of Wallingford will spend time in federal prison after pleading guilty to embezzling from a bank.
Fifty-one-year-old Cindy Harris of Wallingford worked for the Emmet County State Bank in Estherville. Prosecutors say over a period of more than a decade, she embezzled nearly $300,000 from the bank. This spring, Harris pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement, bank theft and misapplication of funds. She’s been sentenced to three months in federal prison and then three months of home confinement.
Harris has been ordered to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution — an amount equal to the money she stole from the bank.
The Emmet County State Bank in Estherville was founded in 1927 and was family owned. In 2012, it was sold to NorthStar Bank in Estherville — another locally-owned bank. Investigators say Harris’ embezzlement started in 2002 and continued through July of 2013.
(Reporting by Ed Funston, KILR, Estherville)