Former Banker Sentenced For Stealing $83,775 From Wells Fargo

A former Tullytown banker was sentenced to county prison Monday after a two-year theft spree.

Christine Ann Bate, 40, of Yardley, was sentenced by county Judge James McMaster to nine to 23 months in the Bucks County Correctional Facility and imposed 16 years and eight months of probation, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office. Bate also was ordered to serve 1,000 hours of community service and restitution.

According to prosecutors, Bate stole $83,775 from Wells Fargo on Levittown Parkway in Tullytown, where she worked as a service manager. She admitted to stealing $7,195 from the vault and $76,580 from the branch’s two ATM machines.

Seven of Bate’s co-workers were fired due to the theft. They followed her orders when she told them to disregard shortages to cash bundles in the vault or that she was working to fix the issue, prosecutors said.

“Their careers are ruined or substantially [harmed] by what you did or what you told them to do,” McMaster told the former banker. “I think not imposing at least some time in jail would totally ignore the impact that your crimes have had on the community, the bank and your co-workers.”

The former banker said she stole because she was too ashamed to ask her parents for financial help to help fund her family, which at that time included her unemployed husband and three children. She claimed her now-estranged husband drank heavily and was abusive.

“In my mind I thought I was solving a short-term problem, but in reality I turned it into a long-term problem,” she said. “I went against all the morals and values I have tried to teach my three children.”

Bate’s current fiancé told the court he would help Bate repay her debt within three years. He called her an “awesome mother.”

Before the judge, Deputy District Attorney Marc Furber made the case that Bate’s thefts were used for trips and entertainment in addition to household expenses. He also noted to the judge that Bate’s theft spanned two years and caused her co-workers to lose their jobs.

“She was able to live the life she wanted to on Wells Fargo’s money,” Furber said.

To begin repaying her theft, Bate arrived at the Bucks County Justice Center with a $10,000 cashier’s check.