FEDERAL COURT
Bank manager spent $1 million in embezzled money on online gambling
GREENEVILLE — A former bank manager has agreed to plead guilty to federal tax evasion charges after he embezzled nearly $1 million from various accounts and lost the money through online gambling websites.
Kenneth Miller agreed to plead guilty in U.S. District Court in Greeneville last month to a five-count information charging him with theft by a bank officer/employee and four counts of tax evasion.
Miller faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine on the theft charge and five years in prison and a $100,000 fine on the tax evasion charges. A change of plea hearing is scheduled for Nov. 28.
The charges are in connection to Miller’s embezzlement of nearly $1 million while he worked as the manager of a First Tennessee Bank location in Greeneville. Prosecutors say the embezzlement took place from April 2012 to February 2016.
According to court records, Miller started working at First Tennessee Bank in May 2000 and moved to various branches within the company until finally becoming the Financial Center Manager of the company’s Greeneville Main Street location.
First Tennessee fired Miller in February once the embezzlement was discovered.
Prosecutors say Miller misapplied $1.16 million from numerous savings accounts, certificates of deposit, lines of credit and individual retirement accounts. However, not all of the money was obtained by Miller.
Court records show Miller moved some of the money between accounts to conceal earlier misapplications of funds. Shortly after discovering the loss, First Tennessee reimbursed most of the losses sustained by account holders, court records state.
As far as personally benefiting from the embezzlement, prosecutors say Miller took just over $967,000, which was lost or spent at online gambling sites DraftKings and FanDuel.
In addition to the embezzlement, Miller filed false federal tax returns from 2012 through 2015, evading approximately $161,000 in federal income taxes. The total loss caused by Miller’s actions was $1.08 million, court records state.
Prosecutors are seeking an $883,000 judgment against Miller.
Once the story of Miller’s embezzlement broke earlier this year, his wife, Erica, filed two lawsuits in Greene County Chancery Court against DraftKings and FanDuel seeking the recovery of gambling losses. Erica Miller claims in her lawsuits that the DraftKings and FanDuel websites violate Tennessee gambling laws.
The two cases were transferred to federal court earlier this year, but have since been remanded to state court.
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