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Stamford Chase Bank Employee Charged With Larceny In Phony Check Scheme

STAMFORD, Conn. -- A smooth-talking man dangled the promise of easy money in front of his girlfriend who worked at a Stamford bank, police said. However, the scheme backfired when bank officials caught on and discovered she had cashed more than $40,000 in phony checks, police said.

Marya-Erickaysa Lira, 22, of Liberty St., Stamford, turned herself in to police Tuesday morning on a charge of first-degree larceny.

Marya-Erickaysa Lira, 22, of Liberty St., Stamford, turned herself in to police Tuesday morning on a charge of first-degree larceny.

Photo Credit: Stamford Police Department

Marya-Erickaysa Lira, 22, of Liberty St., Stamford, turned herself in to police Tuesday morning on a charge of first-degree larceny.

In June 2014, Chase Bank became aware that while Lira was working as a teller in the High Ridge Road branch that she had handled more than a dozen fraudulent checks, Stamford police Sgt. Kelly Connelly said. The checks, totaling about $42,000, were cashed against accounts held by the bank, Connelly said.

When Lira was interviewed by officers, she told them her boyfriend of three months said he had a way to make lots of money and asked whether she wanted in, police said. She said he and another man, who she suspected might be related to her boyfriend, had her cash the checks in a two-week span in June 2014, police said.

The pair would send people to Lira when she worked at the bank, she told police. She told police that she believed the two men had done this before.

No customers were affected by the scam, Connelly said.

There was no further information on whether other arrests had been made in the case or the status of the investigation, Connelly said.

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