A Bucksport woman accused of improperly transferring nearly $3 million from financial clients has pleaded guilty to embezzlement and filing false tax returns.

Lynn M. Bowden, 62, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court and faces up to 30 years in prison and significant fines on the embezzlement charge, U.S. attorney Thomas E. Delahanty announced Wednesday. Bowden also faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on the false tax return charge.

Bowden was accused of making 108 deposits and transfers of customer funds into her personal accounts from April 4, 2005, to Sept. 26, 2012, while she worked at Merrill Merchants Bank and Chittenden Corp. Those deposits and transfers totaled more than $2.99 million, according to Delahanty.

“She used all of the money for herself and for members of her family,” Delahanty said in a prepared statement.

Bowden also failed to report to the Internal Revenue Service that she had received that income, causing a tax loss of more than $750,000 from 2007 to 2011, Delahanty said.

Bowden was fired from the bank in October 2012. Before she was fired, she managed more than 200 trust and investment management accounts.

Bowden will be sentenced after a pre-sentence investigation report is competed by the United States Probation Office.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the IRS.

Gillian Graham can be contacted at 791-6315 or at:ggraham@pressherald.comTwitter: grahamgillian


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.