Banker stages robbery to cover up own theft
By KIM FUNDINGSLAND, Staff Writer, kfundingsland@minotdailynews.com
POSTED: April 12, 2008
A Souris woman is accused of embezzling money from the bank she worked at and then staging a robbery to cover up the theft.
Tamara Lynn McDonald, 45, was arrested around 11:30 a.m. Friday and charged with intent to defraud, knowingly embezzle, abstract, purloin and willfully misapply moneys and funds from the State Bank of Bottineau, Souris Branch, from December 2007 to March 2008. The arrest took place without incident at McDonald’s home.
The charges against McDonald stem from what investigators now say was a staged robbery of the bank in Souris on March 25. About 1:15 p.m. on that date, McDonald was discovered, seemingly unconscious, inside the bank vault by her husband and two bank customers. McDonald later said she did not see who struck her on the head from behind, knocking her out, but that it occurred just before she would normally be leaving for lunch at 12:30 p.m.
A physician’s report later showed no evidence of blunt trauma, acute trauma or acute intracranial abnormality, officials said.
Upon being interviewed April 10 by special agent Ryan O’Neil of the FBI, McDonald is said to have admitted to staging the robbery to cover evidence that she had been stealing money from the bank. Knowing that an upcoming audit would discover the missing money, McDonald reportedly indicated she decided to stage the robbery immediately after a photocopy machine repairman left the bank in the hopes that his presence would appear suspicious.
According to an affidavit filed by O’Neil, McDonald used a large rock that she kept on her desk as a paperweight to strike herself in the face and on the back of the head. McDonald also reportedly broke out a lightbulb inside the vault and forced herself to vomit on the floor before lying down and waiting to be discovered.
McDonald made a Friday afternoon appearance in federal court in Minot. The hearing was conducted by U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Charles S. Miller, Bismarck, by video conference.
Miller determined that McDonald qualified for a public defender, then ruled she could be released on a personal recognizance bond pending further court proceedings. The next court appearance for McDonald is a preliminary hearing scheduled for April 30 at 1:30 p.m. at the federal courthouse in Minot.
The amount of money determined to be missing from the bank was $18,800. Ironically, McDonald reportedly turned over $11,700 in U.S. currency and $670 in Canadian currency that she had stored in a safety deposit box inside the same bank vault from which she is accused of taking the money. According to the affidavit, approximately $6,000 of the stolen money was used by McDonald to pay personal bills.
