ATMmarketplace.com learned last night that ATM veteran Bob Egan has been accused of bilking some $12 million from Webster Bank — a bank for which Egan supplied 162 ATMs with vault cash services.
Egan, the president of Mount Vernon Money Center, reportedly told federal authorities investigating the case that he had kept the money from Webster Bank to hide "misappropriation of funds" from his company's other customers, according to a story on LoHund.com, which covers New York's lower Hudson Valley.
According to federal records, Mount Vernon Money Center used money it deposited with Bank of America to fill ATM canisters at Webster Bank's vault. Funds remaining in Webster's ATMs were supposed to be returned to the Webster account. Webster provided between $10 million and $16 million every week for ATMs Mount Vernon Money Center replenished.
According to the complaint by the Federal Bureau of Investigations against Egan, between Jan. 7 and Jan. 22 Mount Vernon Money Center filed eight reports with Webster, indicating the company had collected $12,055,815 from the bank's ATMs and either returned the money to Webster's account or kept it in its vault to use in Webster's ATMs.
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On Jan. 28, Webster realized that it was short $12 million and notified Egan's company. The following day, Egan told an investigator that he used the money to fund other "shortfalls" in his company's operations.
One industry source, who asked to remain anonymous, told ATMmarketplace.com last night that he was "shocked" by the news.
"I've always known Bob to be a stand-up guy," the source said. "This is really all just very hard to believe."
The impact of the indictment will be far-reaching, as Mount Vernon supplies vault-cash and armored services to a number of large retail ATM providers in the United States, including Cardtronics and Access to Money, formerly TRM Corp.
Egan, 64, appeared in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on a single charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. He was released on $10 million bond that included $5 million in personal property.
Egan also owns The Egan Group, a company that offers a range of financial services such as armored services and high-tech security.
Egan faces up to 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1 million.
