HUNTINGTON BEACH – A bank teller is accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from elderly bank customers, police said.

In one case, authorities allege the Tustin man took nearly $200,000 from a man he befriended while working as a teller in a Huntington Beach bank. In another, investigators suspect the victim lost more than $40,000.

Jake Chih Wei Cheng, 23, was arrested Friday on suspicion of embezzlement and money laundering, and was being held in a federal custody in Santa Ana, according to a statement released by the Huntington Beach Police Department.

The arrest occurred about a year after Huntington Beach detectives began investigating a report of fraud, the statement read.

An elderly man reported told police he was defrauded of almost $200,000 by a teller who befriended him at a Huntington Beach Wells Fargo Bank branch, the statement read.

The theft took place over a year, the statement read, and Cheng is suspected of forging temporary checks from the victim’s account in that time.

Cheng was then transferred to a San Clemente branch.

There, investigators suspect the 23-year-old took more than $40,000 from another person’s account.

The person who had power of attorney for the victim was notified of the theft by fraud investigators with Wells Fargo, the statement read.

Cheng was then terminated.

The case was investigated by investigators from the Huntington Beach Police Department’s economic crimes section and the U.S. Secret Service.

Cheng is expected to face federal charges, according to the statement.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7949 or shernandez@ocregister.com