Police: Bank employee stole more than $100,000

Colleagues uncovered account transfer scheme

Email | Print By Kyle Swenson

Montae Gary Brockett

A Nashville man employed at Citizens Savings Bank & Trust has been arrested by Metro Police for allegedly stealing more than $100,000 from the institution through a complicated account transfer.

According to police, Montae Gary Brockett, of Wildberry Lane in Bellevue, was stealing money from the bank by debiting funds from a federal tax deposit account and transferring the money into his own account. Officials at the 105-year-old institution – which is the oldest continuously operating black-owned bank in the country – discovered Brockett's theft and confronted the employee before notifying police, according to the affidavit.

“Brockett admitted to the bank administration to being responsible for this before the officers actually arrived,” said Don Aaron, Metro Police's spokesman. “When asked in the police car after being mirandized what happened, he responded he'd just gotten behind.”

According to police records, Brockett does not have any prior offenses in Davidson County.

Calls to representatives at Citizens were not immediately returned. The bank, which is owned by 200 stockholders and has about 25 employees, has stayed small throughout its history and has kept its nose clean during the recession.

In the first of this year, it earned $109,000 on assets of about $77 million. It ended 2008 with earnings of $202,000 and an asset base of $69 million.

NashvillePost.com will update this story if more information if offered.