A former bank manager has confessed to stealing from a customer’s accounts in a long-lasting scheme, even after the customer’s demise.

James Gomes, a 43-year-old who used to work as a branch manager for an undisclosed international bank, has pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud that impacted a financial institution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey.

Gomes devised a plan that drained hundreds of thousands of dollars from the victim. Between January and April 2020, he illicitly accessed the customer’s accounts on more than twelve occasions. He created an email address using the victim’s name and utilized it to enroll the customer’s accounts in the lender’s online banking services. Gomes also connected his personal mobile number to the customer’s online banking account.

With full control over the victim’s online banking profile, Gomes transferred a total of $208,939 from the customer’s accounts to his personal accounts at other banks and his personal investment account.

To disguise his illegal activities, Gomes utilized the fake email account to send messages to his official work account, making it appear as though the victim was instructing the bank to carry out the transfers. Even after the victim’s death on April 6th, 2020, the former branch manager continued his scheme.

Gomes now faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a fine of $1 million. His former employer absorbed the losses to compensate the victim’s estate.