CROWN POINT

Former banker ordered to repay stolen money

A former Harris Bank employee was sentenced Wednesday to three years of probation for stealing $14,806 last year from the bank.

Joann Ramirez, 25, of Calumet City, also is required to pay back the money she stole in monthly installments during her probation.

Ramirez pleaded guilty Wednesday to felony theft in return for Lake County prosecutors dropping a felony count of fraud on a financial institution.

Ramirez's attorney, Kirk Marrie, told Judge Pro Tem Susan Severson that Ramirez struggled when her father became ill. He has since died.

"She was trying to help her family and crossed a line," Marrie said.

Ramirez admitted she used her job at Harris Bank, 27 E. Sibley St., Hammond, to illegally divert money into her private account before resigning as a personal banker there.

Hammond police said that after Ramirez quit in late November the bank conducted a routine audit of her transactions and discovered a dozen unauthorized fee reversals that shifted money into her account.

Police said she used the identity of a new employee, who was assigned to Ramirez as a trainee, to cover up the transactions.