MUSKEGON, Mich. – A former credit union teller who has been charged with stealing more than $100,000 from the account of a newly dead friend while she worked at a bank, has now been charged with additional felonies that were allegedly committed while free on bond.
Muskegon County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Timothy M. Maat said that he was contacted by First General Credit Union after learning of the charges against Michelle Renee Crouch related to allegedly taking funds from the account of a friend who had died. Crouch had also worked as a teller at First General CU in Norton Shores, Mich., where an investigation led to her firing and alleged thefts of $10,335.66 in six separate transactions between December 2015 and March 2016, according to MLive.com. In that case, funds were transferred from a member’s account without authorization into the account of a relative of Crouch, MLive.com reported.
Crouch had originally been charged for allegedly forging a bogus loan agreement for Kevin Bolema, a neighbor and friend of Crouch who died in June of 2015, while Crouch was working as a teller for PNC Bank in Muskegon Township, Mich.
Authorities said Crouch allegedly created that document on her home computer after Bolema's death, forged his signature on it and authorized her lawyer to give it to the prosecutor's office in an attempt to clear her of the first larceny charge, according to MLive.com. In that case, the document was dated just before Bolema's sudden death, and appears to authorize an interest-free loan from Bolema to Crouch, MLive.com said.
In the new credit-union theft case, Crouch has been charged with larceny of between $1,000 and $20,000, a potential five-year felony.
Crouch remains in the Muskegon County Jail.