A former Nantucket Bank employee has agreed to plead guilty to her role in two wire fraud conspiracies, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boston announced Thursday.
Rushell Harris, 32, of Nantucket, allegedly exploited her position at the bank from June 2014 to November 2018 to obtain personal customer information and take photographs of their account information. She then shared that information with co-conspirators, authorities said, who attempted to transfer funds out of the customers’ bank accounts.
The second conspiracy includes allegations that Harris perpetrated a fraudulent lottery scheme targeting at least 13 victims who were contacted by phone and informed they had won large prizes. Harris and co-conspirators told the victims they needed to pre-pay taxes on their winnings as well as advance payments for insurance and international customs fees, authorities said. The funds they obtained through the scheme were transferred to associates in Jamaica and in the U.S.
Harris faces a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater.
A plea hearing has not yet been scheduled by the court. Both the Nantucket Police Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation assisted in the case.
