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Manatee Deputies Say Bank Manager Bilked Customer

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By JOSH POLTILOVE, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 5, 2008

TAMPA - A Sarasota bank branch manager built up a false trust with an 86-year-old Bradenton man and stole thousands of dollars from him, Manatee County deputies say.

Milton Lowry Hagelberger, 43, was being held on $1.15 million bail in Sarasota County Jail on Monday after being arrested in connection to the fraud case.

Hagelberger was charged with exploitation of the elderly, scheming to defraud and 27 counts of fraudulent use of a credit card.

He used an ATM card to steal money from the Bradenton man, deputies said. The thefts took place from March 2007 to January.

Hagelberger made about 130 unauthorized ATM withdrawals totaling $82,000, a sheriff's office release says. The 86-year-old man, a client at the RBC Centura Bank in Bradenton at which Hagelberger was employed until October, didn't have an ATM card when the withdrawals were made.

Hagelberger, who had helped the man balance his checkbook, had the man's bank statements mailed to a vacant lot across from the bank so the man wouldn't get them, the release states.

On Jan. 25, the man went to the bank and learned he couldn't cash a check because he had insufficient funds, the release states. The man learned a second account had been opened in his name and someone was using an ATM card to withdraw funds.

Hagelberger, a former SunTrust employee, was arrested Monday at BB&T Bank in Sarasota, where he now works as a vice president the sheriff's office said.

Anyone with information may call the sheriff's office at (941) 747-3011, ext. 2552 or 2510, or Crime Stoppers at (866) 634-TIPS.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691 or jpoltilove@tampatrib.com.

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