A former SunTrust Bank branch manager has been convicted of forgery and sentenced to five years on probation and ordered to repay almost $2,500 in restitution to the bank.
Sidonie Pollack-Summers, 36, of Rincon, also must perform 200 hours of community service under sentence imposed by Chatham County Superior Court Judge James F. Bass Jr. following a jury conviction on Friday.
Assistant District Attorney Sarah Moorhead told jurors that in October 2008, Robert Kozlowski, treasurer of the Alee Temple Shriner’s Oriental
Band, visited the SunTrust Bank on Savannah’s southside to speak with Pollack-Summers, the bank’s branch manager, about reinvesting the organization’s $5,000 certificate of deposit that had recently matured.
Kozlowski and Pollack-Summers agreed upon reinvesting the monies into a TransAmerica Fund; which Pollack –Summers assured would realize a 6% return on the organization’s investment, Moorhead said.
In March of 2009, Kozlowski returned to the SunTrust Bank to change his mailing address on the account documentation.
After finding out Pollack-Summers was no longer employed at SunTrust, he was told that no such account with TransAmerica had been created, but that $3,000 had been invested in a SunTrust Fund, Moorhead said.
Upon further review, it became apparent that Pollack-Summers had forged Kozlowski’s signature when opening the $3,000 fund for the group and that the bank could not account for the remaining $2,000, Moorhead said.
Pollack-Summers was arrested and booked in April 2009 for forgery in the 1st degree and theft by taking.
Kozlowski and the Alee Temple Shriner’s were later reimbursed for the missing money, including interest by SunTrust Bank.