Banker stole from customers she said ‘wouldn’t need the money,’ AR cops say
A bank employee was caught stealing thousands of dollars from customer accounts when a transaction on a dead customer’s account couldn’t be processed, Arkansas police said.
Heather Pankey, 45, is accused of stealing $241,900 at First National Bank of Commerce and is charged with theft, financial identity fraud, forgery and computer fraud, according to court documents filed on April 21.
The Pocahontas banker was arrested on April 23 and released the same day, according to jail records. Her attorney information was not listed.
Money was withdrawn from at least eight customer accounts, according to an affidavit. Pankey took between $1,900 and $240,000 from the accounts, police said.
“I borrowed money from a couple of customers that I knew wouldn’t need the money at the time,” Pankey wrote in a statement to the court.
The banker concealed the fraudulent transactions by using another employee’s credentials when transferring money into a joint account she shared with her grandmother, the affidavit said.
She would also transfer money across customer accounts to conceal missing funds, according to court documents.
Pocahontas is about a 145-mile drive northeast from Little Rock.
This story was originally published April 24, 2025 at 9:57 AM with the headline "Banker stole from customers she said ‘wouldn’t need the money,’ AR cops say."
