St. Charles bank manager pleads guilty to theft from client

A St. Charles woman with strong ties to the local business community pleaded guilty Friday to stealing $21,900 from a client of the bank she managed.

Lynn Pranga, 56, agreed to a sentence of two years of probation and 200 hours of community service at an animal rescue organization in Elburn. She also paid $21,900 in restitution Friday to MB Financial Bank.

She is forbidden from being in any MB Financial Bank branch, or contacting the victim of her theft, an 82-year-old man.

In exchange, prosecutors dropped charges of financial exploitation of the elderly and forgery.

Between June 11, 2009 and April 26, 2011, she stole money, out of a certificate of deposit of an 82-year-old man, and two other accounts, according to police and court records.

Officials with MB Financial Bank's branch at 2607 W. Lincoln Hwy. reported in January 2012 that the customer complained that a five-year certificate of deposit had been changed to a one-year CD, and that it now had less money than what he deposited. He denied making any withdrawals.

Pranga, the branch manager, was accused of making a check from the man's account for $3,500, payable to MetLife Mortgage, and signing it as if permission had been granted by the victim, in 2009.

Pranga was well-known in the business community. She managed Inland Bank's Geneva branch from September 2011 through the time she was charged.

Pranga served on the Geneva Women in Business committee of the Geneva Chamber of Commerce, and was also active in the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce. She was on the board of directors of Literacy Volunteers of America -- Fox Valley at the time of her arrest.

Pranga could have been sentenced to up to seven years in prison on the theft charge. If she had been convicted of financial exploitation of the elderly, she could have been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.