Pendleton Woman Charged with Forgery and Breach of Trust

In late 2013, Seneca Police received a report of approximately $30,000 missing from a Bank of America account. Investigations revealed that an employee, Bobbi Cortese, had misappropriated funds from multiple individuals in Oconee County. These victims were customers of the Seneca branch, with Cortese serving as their personal banker. Collaborating with Bank of America investigators and aided by the United States Secret Service, Seneca Police conducted a thorough investigation over several years.

They uncovered that Cortese had taken nearly $300,000 from four victims, some of whom had received life insurance payouts after the death of their spouses, while others had accumulated retirement savings. Cortese’s modus operandi involved opening unauthorized accounts in the victims’ names and engaging in a deceptive financial shuffle. She would use funds from one victim to replace those she had taken from another. To conceal her actions, Cortese forged various documents and presented them to the victims.

These fraudulent activities occurred over a four-year period while Cortese was employed at the bank. As a result, she is now facing four counts of Breach of Trust (one count per victim) and two counts of Forgery (related to the forged documents presented to the victims).

Chief Casey Bowling said she was arrested on Saturday in Pendleton, and he has more…