SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) – A former Carolina Alliance Bank employee has pleaded guilty to embezzling nearly $180,000 from a customer’s bank account.

Murray Glenn, spokesman for the 7th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, tells the Herald-Journal of Spartanburg that 30-year-old Nichole Lynn Buchanan was sentenced Tuesday to two years in jail and five years’ probation after pleading guilty to breach of trust with fraudulent intent and exploitation of a vulnerable adult. Buchanan will also have to pay back almost $194,000 in restitution.

Police arrested Buchanan in August after the victim asked the bank about missing funds from her account. Buchanan at first told bank staff that the victim had called her and asked her to withdraw the money and deliver it to her.

The fraudulent transactions spanned six years.

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