Bank exec charged with large embezzlement

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CHICAGO, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- A woman who rose to be chief operating officer at a Chicago bank embezzled $3 million in 15 years, using most of it to feed a gambling habit, prosecutors said.

A federal grand jury indicted Dora Asmussen, 52, of Gilberts, Ill., Thursday. The former executive with Burling Bank was charged with three counts of bank fraud.

Asmussen faces a lengthy prison term and forfeiture of $3.074 million if she is convicted.

The grand jury found that Asmussen between 1997 and August 2012 wrote checks on her own account and cashier's checks, covering them with money from the general bank fund. She also used checks from customer accounts.

Asmussen was in charge of daily retail operations and some of the bank's record-keeping, allowing her to cover her tracks for many years, prosecutors said.