Tweet
Banker Natanzia St. Rose allegedly exchanged bills that reeked of marijuana for clean Benjamins
BY Kerry Burke and John Marzulli
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Wednesday, February 9th 2011, 4:00 AM
Theodorakis/News
Assistant bank manager Natanzia St. Rose of Queens Village has been arrested by federal agents from a money-laundering task force.
Mistretta/Getty/File Photo
St. Rose's scheme allegedly involved exchanging $20 bills for hundred-dollar bills.
Related News
The feds have busted a smooth-talking bank employee suspected of laundering $50,000 in drug money at her branch and a neighboring competitor.
Natanzia St. Rose, an assistant manager at the East Hills, L.I., branch of JPMorgan Chase, allegedly came up with a simple scheme:
The pretty Queens woman told her supervisor that a representative of the nearby Bank of America branch needed hundred-dollar bills and asked if Chase would exchange them for $20 bills, according to authorities.
Her boss okayed the request, and St. Rose walked into the vault with $30,000 in $20 bills that reeked of marijuana, changing them for clean Benjamins, a complaint filed in Brooklyn Federal Court charges.
St. Rose might have gotten away with the switch if her diligent supervisor had not called her counterpart at the nearby Bank of America to verify the transaction.
The supervisor was told the bank had made no such request for $100 bills.
In fact, the Bank of America manager reported that St. Rose had previously come over and passed $20,000 in $20 bills using the same story - that JPMorgan Chase needed Benjamins.
St. Rose, 36, of Queens Village, was arrested last Thursday by federal agents from a money-laundering task force and released on $150,000 bail.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan King has charged St. Rose with making illegal bank transactions of amounts exceeding $10,000 to avoid the filing of an official report.
St. Rose apparently believed that because the JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America managers thought they were exchanging the cash as a courtesy to each other, no currency transaction report was required.
The criminal complaint states that St. Rose remains under investigation for "possible money laundering and structuring of narcotics proceeds through financial institutions."
Both banks are cooperating with investigators.
Michael Fusco, a spokesman for JPMorgan Chase, said St. Rose has been fired.
"We're working closely with the authorities on the investigation, and no customer accounts were affected," Fusco said.
The complaint also notes that St. Rose had just recently been assigned to work at the East Hills branch and was not scheduled to work last Oct. 27, the day she allegedly pulled her scam.
St. Rose couldn't come up with much of a story when reached by the Daily News on Tuesday.
"How did you find me?" she said at her home.
Asked why the money was said to reek of weed, she said: "No, nothing like that happened. I can't talk about it."
kburke@nydailynews.com
BY Kerry Burke and John Marzulli
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Wednesday, February 9th 2011, 4:00 AM
Theodorakis/NewsAssistant bank manager Natanzia St. Rose of Queens Village has been arrested by federal agents from a money-laundering task force.
Mistretta/Getty/File PhotoSt. Rose's scheme allegedly involved exchanging $20 bills for hundred-dollar bills.
Related News
The feds have busted a smooth-talking bank employee suspected of laundering $50,000 in drug money at her branch and a neighboring competitor.
Natanzia St. Rose, an assistant manager at the East Hills, L.I., branch of JPMorgan Chase, allegedly came up with a simple scheme:
The pretty Queens woman told her supervisor that a representative of the nearby Bank of America branch needed hundred-dollar bills and asked if Chase would exchange them for $20 bills, according to authorities.
Her boss okayed the request, and St. Rose walked into the vault with $30,000 in $20 bills that reeked of marijuana, changing them for clean Benjamins, a complaint filed in Brooklyn Federal Court charges.
St. Rose might have gotten away with the switch if her diligent supervisor had not called her counterpart at the nearby Bank of America to verify the transaction.
The supervisor was told the bank had made no such request for $100 bills.
In fact, the Bank of America manager reported that St. Rose had previously come over and passed $20,000 in $20 bills using the same story - that JPMorgan Chase needed Benjamins.
St. Rose, 36, of Queens Village, was arrested last Thursday by federal agents from a money-laundering task force and released on $150,000 bail.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan King has charged St. Rose with making illegal bank transactions of amounts exceeding $10,000 to avoid the filing of an official report.
St. Rose apparently believed that because the JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America managers thought they were exchanging the cash as a courtesy to each other, no currency transaction report was required.
The criminal complaint states that St. Rose remains under investigation for "possible money laundering and structuring of narcotics proceeds through financial institutions."
Both banks are cooperating with investigators.
Michael Fusco, a spokesman for JPMorgan Chase, said St. Rose has been fired.
"We're working closely with the authorities on the investigation, and no customer accounts were affected," Fusco said.
The complaint also notes that St. Rose had just recently been assigned to work at the East Hills branch and was not scheduled to work last Oct. 27, the day she allegedly pulled her scam.
St. Rose couldn't come up with much of a story when reached by the Daily News on Tuesday.
"How did you find me?" she said at her home.
Asked why the money was said to reek of weed, she said: "No, nothing like that happened. I can't talk about it."
kburke@nydailynews.com
Comment