Ex-Redwood City bank teller earns year sentence in prison

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A former crooked Redwood City bank teller was sentenced to a year in prison Wednesday.

Arcelia Barajas Aguilar, 28, an ex-employee at San Mateo County Credit Union in Redwood City, pleaded no contest in August to charges that she transferred $40,000 of her 74-year-old aunt’s funds into her own account, and $33,000 of a 16-year-old girl’s inheritance money.

Aguilar also got a job at the bank fraudulently, having assumed her mother’s identity and Social Security number when hired, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.

Aguilar was ordered to repay the credit union, which said it replenished the victims’ accounts. She was also slapped with five years probation.

She has been ordered to surrender to the jail on Feb. 19, Wagstaffe said. She has been out of custody after posting a $25,000 bail.

When the fraud came to light, Aguilar had spent all but $5,000 of the money, apparently on her credit card debt, Wagstaffe said.

Prosecutors say she might have used her mother’s Social Security number to cover the extreme amount of debt she likely carries.

The bank transfers happened during a two-day period last year, police investigators said.

A family member reported Aguilar to authorities for using her mother’s Social Security number. The credit union told The San Francisco Examiner that it caught the fraudulent bank transfers and reported it to police.