Man indicted for over $200,000 in bank fraud
Sovereign Bank employee accused of siphoning from accounts
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER
Staff Writer

TRENTON - A federal grand jury has indicted a Brick Township man who is a former Sovereign Bank employee on numerous charges of bank fraud and identity theft.

Nazeem Patel, aka Nazeem Van Steen, Sandra Place, was employed at the bank's branch on Burnt Tavern Road as a new account representative from Feb. 5 through March 8, according to the indictment.

Patel had access to customers' account data and confidential information such as Social Security numbers, current addresses, account numbers, dates of birth, phone numbers, mothers' maiden names and e-mail addresses, the indictment states.

He used his position to divert funds from bank customers to himself or to use to buy watches, jewelry and other items on the eBay Internet auction site, according to the indictment.

He did this by creating and using e-mail accounts under the names of bank customers or people who shared the same names as bank customers, the indictment states.

Patel fraudulently created eBay and PayPal accounts to purchase items from "high-end" watch and jewelry merchants around the country and to issue checks in his name, according to the indictment.

He diverted funds from three customer accounts - $51,800 from "K.D.," $110,400 from "M.S." and $46,199 from customer "T.H.," according to the indictment.

Patel was also indicted on two charges of aggravated identity theft, the indictment states.