Jan. 14--A Bloomingdale bank employee took advantage of a customer and stole more than $12,000 from the man, DuPage County prosecutors said Wednesday.
Gladys Alcala, 34, of Streamwood, was charged this week with aggravated identity theft, said authorities, who said she posted $12,500 cash bond Tuesday and was released from custody to await trial.
Authorities said Alcala stole about $12,500 from a 66-year-old man who was a customer at the Citibank branch in Bloomingdale where Alcala worked.
Her supervisor, prosecutors said, had asked Alcala to assist the man because she speaks Spanish, which was the customer's native language. Prosecutors said Alcala persuaded the man to cancel his current credit card and open a new account and to also open a line of credit.
They said Alcala did not close the man's previous credit card account and instead used his old card to make about two dozen purchases totaling $4,500. She also wrote checks to herself using the line of credit account, prosecutors said.
The alleged victim became aware of the account when creditors began calling him about it, prosecutors said. Alcala is due back in court Feb. 1.
Ward is a freelance reporter.
