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Peninsula Bank Employee Gets Prison For Embezzling Scheme

REDWOOD CITY (CBS SF) -- A Daly City bank employee accused of embezzling thousands of dollars from private accounts was sentenced to serve four years and eight months in state prison by a San Mateo County judge Wednesday.

Norielyn Bautista, 43, apologized for her actions before being sentenced by Judge Lisa Novak, who denied defense attorney Steven Whitworth's request for probation on behalf of his client.

Bautista's long and sophisticated embezzlement scheme, which occurred over a four-year period from March 2006 to 2010, warranted the heavy sentence, San Mateo County District Attorney Steven Wagstaffe said.

While employed at Pacific Advantage Federal Credit Union in Burlingame, Bautista embezzled more than $428,000 from 15 different customer accounts and one of the bank's general funds, according to the district attorney's office.

None of the stolen money was ever recovered, Wagstaffe said.

In August, Bautista pleaded no contest to one felony count of embezzlement, three counts of grand theft, one count of forgery and one count of identity theft.

She will likely be transported from county jail to state prison this week, Wagstaffe said.

A hearing will be held Dec. 2 in San Mateo County Superior Court to determine the exact amount of restitution that Bautista will be required to pay to her victims as part of her sentence, Wagstaffe said.

(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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