Ex-employee charged with taking $70,000 from Ameris bank

Henry County Sheriff’s investigators arrested a Newville woman Monday in connection to the theft of more than $70,000 from an Abbeville bank.

Lt. Clyde Hornsby, the commander of the Henry County Sheriff’s Office and Abbeville Police Task Force, said he charged 30-year-old Donna Cureton with three felony counts of first-degree theft of property. He said Cureton turned herself into the Henry County Sheriff’s Office Monday afternoon with her lawyer, Tom Brantley.

Cureton was taken to the Henry County Jail, and held on a $650,000 bond. She was scheduled for a bond reduction hearing this morning in front of Circuit Court Judge Ed Jackson in Dothan.
Hornsby said he charged Cureton with stealing money from the Ameris Bank branch in Abbeville. More charges are pending the completion of the ongoing investigation. She was charged with stealing the money in at least three separate segments for each counts, one of $53,800, a second of more than $7,000 and a third of more than $10,000. Hornsby said thefts occurred from 2007 to present.

“We were lucky and really fortunate, for somebody to steal this amount of money there’s always the possibility they’ll flee,” Hornsby said.
Bank auditors discovered the thefts late last month, and notified Hornsby last week. He said Cureton worked at the bank for three to four years as customer service representative and an assistance loan officer. She is no longer employed with the bank.

Hornsby charged Cureton with stealing the money from two business accounts at the bank along with a personal account.

“When somebody made a deposit she would remove part of it for herself,” Hornsby said. “Either by putting some into her pocket or into her account.”

“We were lucky and really fortunate, for somebody to steal this amount of money there’s always the possibility they’ll flee,” Hornsby said.

Bank auditors discovered the thefts late last month, and notified Hornsby last week. He said Cureton worked at the bank for three to four years as customer service representative and an assistant loan officer. She is no longer employed with the bank.

Hornsby charged Cureton with stealing the money from two business accounts at the bank along with a personal account.

“When somebody made a deposit she would remove part of it for herself,” Hornsby said. “Either by putting some into her pocket or into her account.”