Former Pensacola bank employee charged with grand theft, fraud

FLORIDA – A former Pensacola bank employee has been arrested and charged with grand theft and fraud by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) for his alleged role in defrauding account holders.

Johnathan Toriana Coleman Jr., 28, of Delray Beach, has been charged by the FDLE with one felony count each of bank fraud, grand theft, and organized fraud, the FDLE has announced.

Coleman was formerly an employee with a Pensacola-area credit union.

According to the FDLE, its investigation showed that Coleman used his position to supply customer account information to a third party, who would pose as the member and initiate unauthorized transfers of funds to mule accounts at the credit union.

The FDLE alleges that Coleman helped defraud 38 account holders out of a total of $357,491 and that, within three days of each illegal transfer made by the third party, Coleman received payments from the third party totaling nearly $30,000.

The credit union has since notified all of the affected account holders.

Agents with FDLE’s Miami Regional Operations Center, with assistance from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, arrested Coleman last week.

Coleman was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on a $115,000 bond. The State Attorney’s Office, First Judicial Circuit, will prosecute the case.