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TOOELE — Longtime Zions Bank customer Halycon Robins once considered her bank teller as a friend.
When that woman was arrested last week and accused of stealing more than $43,000 from Robins' bank account over the past year in 22 fraudulent transactions, Robins was stunned and heartbroken.
"I really liked (her) and that's who I went to most of the time," Robins said Wednesday. "I really felt bad for her thinking that she would do something like that to me."
Robins, who is 90 years old, was victimized by Zions Bank teller Stephanie Huber Bennett, 44, according to Tooele police. Bennett, of Tooele, was booked into the Tooele County Jail for investigation of 22 counts each of forgery and exploitation of a vulnerable adult.
Robins said she feels "betrayed" by the woman she trusted to handle her transactions. She also wishes she had been keeping a closer eye on her accounts.
"It's just kept me awake at night wondering how I let something like that happen, you know, kind of blaming it on myself," Robins said Wednesday.
Her son, Randy Robins, said the family this week examined bank records going back another five years and found 39 additional fraudulent withdrawals.
"It's somebody you need to trust. Your banker has access to everything," he said. "When we found this out, that trust had been broken."
While declining to go into specifics, Randy Robins said the amount withdrawn in those five years is significantly more than the $43,000 so far corroborated by police. He said Zions Bank recently redeposited the $43,000 into his mother's account, though the family is still working to recover the additional funds.
Halycon Robins worked at Utah State University, while her late husband typically had multiple jobs as a teacher, high school sports coach and bail bondsman.
"They worked their tails off all through their lives to get to the point where they had stuff for when they were old and retired, and now we find out that a lot of it's gone," Randy Robins said.
Zions Bank issued a statement this week saying Bennett no longer works for them as of Dec. 10. She had worked for the bank since 2006.
"We are unable to discuss specifics regarding this situation. However, we are working closely with the Tooele City Police Department in (its) investigation," the bank said in its statement.
Tooele police said they contacted Zions Bank officials, who reviewed video and other documents.
Bennett "admitted to several of the fraudulent transactions," Tooele police said in a statement Tuesday. The agency is investigating whether other transactions were made victimizing Robins or others. Anyone who suspects illicit activity on any of their bank accounts is asked to call Tooele police at 435-882-8900.
Bennett, who has no significant criminal history in Utah, posted bond on Dec. 11 and is currently out of the Tooele County Jail, records show. No criminal charges had been filed against her as of Wednesday.
Randy Robins said he and his mother are speaking out because they don't want other unsuspecting bank customers to lose money in the same way.
"I don't know what safeguards the bank had on this. … What safeguards are out there to protect the customer?" he said.
For Halycon Robins, the theft from her account is all the more painful because Bennett isn't a nameless, faceless stranger. She has nothing left to say to the woman who once had her confidence, even if they bumped into one another on the street.
"I don't think I'd even talk to her," she said.
Contributing: Geoff Liesik
