Boston – A former bank teller at the former Lenox National Bank was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Springfield in connection with embezzling more than $378,000 from the bank and concealing the theft with false bank records.
Melissa K. Scolforo, 48, of Lee, Mass., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to 10 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $378,000 in restitution. In May 2016, Scolforo pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to embezzle funds from a bank.
Scolforo, a teller at Lenox National Bank for 24 years, conspired with another bank teller, Bernadine Powers, to embezzle money from the teller drawers and make false entries in bank records to hide the thefts. Scolforo began stealing money in January 2009, and Powers joined the scheme about a year later. The two tellers stole a total of $378,000 which they used to pay personal expenses – including shopping, dining at restaurants, and paying household bills –before the embezzlement was brought to light during a bank audit in November 2013.
In December 2016, Powers was sentenced to 18 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $299,793.
Lenox National Bank has since been acquired by Adams Community Bank.
Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb and Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen L. Goodwin of Weinreb’s Springfield Branch Office prosecuted the case.