Updated with comments from TD Bank and additional comment from Nanaimo RCMP.
A former customer service manager with TD/Canada Trust has been charged with theft and fraud for alleged fraudulent banking transactions totaling nearly $60,000 dollars.
Frederick Scott Deering, 48, a former TD/Canada Trust branch customer service manager in Nanaimo, was charged Aug. 2 with one count of fraud over $5,000 and one count of theft over $5000 dollars.
The charges stem from an investigation that started in September 2010 after it was alleged Deering misappropriated funds from dormant bank accounts.
The discovery triggered a joint investigation involving the Nanaimo RCMP Serious Crime Unit and the TD Bank Group Corporate Investigations Division.
While employed with TD/Canada Trust, Deering worked as a customer service manager in Nanaimo TD/Canada Trust branches at Turner Road and Terminal Park Mall.
Deering's employment with the company was terminated in October 2010.
Police said the investigation did not turn up any account holders from the Nanaimo area affected by the fraudulent transactions.
Deering's first court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 25 at Nanaimo provincial court.
Lynzey MacRae, TD Bank Group spokeswoman, said the alleged thefts were first discovered through an internal investigation by the TD Bank Group Corporate Investigations team, which brought their findings to the police.
Const. Gary O'Brien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesman, said more than three dozen accounts were hit, but police will not publicly give an exact figure or say precisely how much money was taken.
O'Brien said Deering was employed with the TD Bank Group for 20 years.
MacRae said there is technology in place that monitors for unusual activity in dormant accounts.
"Since then we've had some technology upgrades and, additionally, some upgrades in terms of our internal investigation processes," MacRae said. "We are always advising customers to regularly check their statements and if they find anything unusual, to call their bank."
MacRae said the incident was extremely rare and involved just one individual that is no long with the company. She did not know where the holders of accounts that were targeted resided, but said that account holders sometimes maintain bank accounts away from where they reside.
"What I can tell you is any customer that was impacted has already been reimbursed," McRae said