$947,000 Allegedly Stolen From Wells Fargo ATM Machines As Employee Scrambles To Cover Trading Losses: Report

A former Wells Fargo employee in California is reportedly facing charges over allegations he stole $947,000 from the bank’s ATM machines during a span of nearly two years.

In a new report in the San Francisco Chronicle, Tamim Ghulam Haidar, the former Wells Fargo Union City branch operations associate manager, is accused of putting less money into the bank’s ATMs than he reported and pocketing the difference for his own use.

Haidar allegedly deposited the ill-gotten gains he is accused of “knowingly and intentionally” embezzling into his own bank accounts or those he controlled and used the funds to cover losses that “he incurred while trading in the foreign currency markets,” according to legal documents filed in the U.S. District Court Northern District of California.

Haidar allegedly committed the crimes from February 2021 to October 2022.

Prosecutors accuse Haidar of sometimes using other bank employees’ credentials to deposit cash in the ATM to “conceal the fact he was inputting false and inflated dollar amounts.”

Haidar is charged with embezzlement by a bank employee and engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity. He faces up to 30 years in federal prison.

Prosecutors are also seeking to force Haidar to forfeit the money he allegedly stole.