Former Venice banker admits to embezzlement

A former bank employee in Venice has pleaded guilty to embezzlement and making a false statement to a federal agency. Jennifer Lamanna, 49, of Venice, faces up to 30 years in prison for embezzlement and up to five years for making a false statement.

Lamanna worked as a universal banker at a branch in Venice that was part of “Bank 1,” according to her plea agreement. “Bank 1” is a financial institution with branches in the Middle District of Florida and elsewhere, the deposits and accounts of which were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Lamanna was employed by Bank 1 from May 2018 to February 2024, her plea agreement says. (Federal officials did not disclose the name of the bank.) 

From January 2020 to January 2024, Lamanna admits she embezzled more than $200,000 from the bank, according to the plea agreement.

At the onset of the pandemic, the bank began using a “contingency cash bag,” a sealed bag containing cash stored in the bank’s vault. Due to reduced staffing during the pandemic, prosecutors say Lamanna had sole access to and exercised control over the vault. She “physically pilfered cash from the cash bag and physically removed the cash” from the branch until the contingency cash bag program was discontinued in November 2022, according to the plea agreement.

After the cash bag program ended, Lamanna began embezzling funds from the vault until she was terminated, according to the plea agreement.

“To balance out the vault and conceal her embezzlement, the defendant would make multiple large withdrawals and subsequent matching deposits out of Bank 1 customer M.W.'s account to make the vault balance,” her plea agreement says. "To further conceal her involvement and make the sham transactions appear legitimate, the defendant filed fictitious Currency Transaction Reports with the United States Department of the Treasury.”

On June 8, 2023, Lamanna filed a Currency Transaction Report falsely stating that Bank I customer M.W. deposited $160,100 into his account, according to the plea agreement. Surveillance video from that day showed M.W. was not present, and when he asked about the fictitious deposits, Lamanna said it was “a bank error and not to worry about it,” the plea agreement says. In filing the Currency Transaction Report, prosecutors say Lamanna made a materially false statement to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a sub-agency of the U.S. Treasury Department.

Lamanna made $255,362 in cash deposits at Bank 1 into her Bank 1 account from January 2020 to January 2024, according to the plea agreement, which says the actual net losses to the bank as a result of her actions are at least $280,000.

As part of her plea agreement, Lamanna has agreed to forfeit $280,000.

A date for sentencing has not yet been set. In addition to up to 35 years in prison, Lamanna faces up to $1.25 million in fines.

The case was investigated by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Office of Inspector General and Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation, Tampa field office. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Poor is the prosecutor.