Tampa banker pleads guilty in embezzlement case, agrees to $122K

A Tampa Bay area man faces potentially up to decades in federal prison after pleading guilty to embezzlement and misappropriation of bank funds. 

Edward L. Jenkinson, 47, of Trinity, Pasco County, faces 30 years in federal prison after the guilty plea, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa. 

Federal prosecutors, in the statement, say Jenkinson was a "bank officer...responsible for managing a Bank 1 financial center located in Tampa." The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office arrest record for Jenkinson says he was employed at Fifth Third Bank.

Jenkinson is currently awaiting sentencing and has agreed for forfeit $122,004.04 worth of proceeds from his crimes, the release states. 

Jenkinson, authorities alleged, embezzled funds by redeeming certificates of deposit without customers’ knowledge or consent from March to November 2024. He prepared deposit tickets and deposited the redeemed funds in customer checking accounts before drafting cashiers’ checks payable to himself, which he deposited into his own bank accounts and withdrew as cash.

He also embezzled $52,000 from the ATM at the bank he managed in Tampa, as well as $2,500 from a bank teller drawer, officials contended. Jenkinson depleted the embezzled funds on gambling, paying off debt and retail purchases.