The Robert E. Coyle Federal Courthouse in Downtown Fresno. File photo

Former Fresno-based bank employee Lladira Hernandez has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $70,000 from multiple customers’ accounts.

According to court documents, in April 2022, Hernandez was hired by the unnamed bank as a customer service representative, where she began stealing account information of customers she assisted over the phone. She used the money to pay her bills and those of her associates including mortgage payments, car payments and phone bills.

In May, Hernandez assisted one victim and later took $7,000 from the victim’s account. The victim died the day after being assisted by Hernandez, according to court records. The victim’s next of kin filed a fraud report with the bank and got the money back.

In August 2022, Hernandez transferred more than $45,000 from customers’ accounts into her own. She then quit her job abruptly at the bank and proceeded to withdraw the money from her account, which was captured on surveillance video

In November 2022, an FBI investigator discovered Hernandez had found a new job at a Fresno credit union on Aug. 30. She was still employed there when the criminal complaint was filed Nov. 15. 

Hernandez is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ana de Alba on September 5, 2023 and faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison as well as a $250,000 fine.