Driver charged with stealing more than $1M from mid-Michigan banks, credit unions

Ken Palmer, Lansing State Journal
·2 min read

GRAND RAPIDS – A former Brink's Inc. driver accused of stealing more than $1 million from seven financial institutions over six weeks last year told a company official he didn't know why he took the cash and returned most of it to the company, court records said.

The thefts from automated teller machines began Nov. 15 and ended Dec. 28, the last day Reginald Carman reported for work as a Brink's driver, an FBI agent wrote in support of criminal charges in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.

The Brink's investigation determined Carman stole a total of $1,060,200 from 24 teller machines owned by the banks and credit unions, including LAFCU, Lake Trust Credit Union and MSUFCU, the agent wrote. He returned a total of about $1,038,000.

Those financial institutions had hired Brink's to transport cash.

Carman returned most of that sum in its original "bricked" or "strapped" condition during a series of meetings with a Brink's security official in January, although some was in "loose form" and several bricks were missing money, the complaint said.

During a Jan. 6 meeting, Carman "advised that his father had recently passed away and his mind was not right when he was stealing the money," according to the criminal complaint.

"He said he did not spend any of the money and did not think about spending the money," it said.

Carman, 23, is accused of stealing $876,880 from ATMs in the court's western Michigan district, which includes the Lansing area, and $183,320 from machines in its eastern district.

Carman was indicted last month on 12 counts of bank larceny in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. A June 28 trial date has been set.

An attorney listed for Carman in court records did not immediately respond to a telephone message from the State Journal.

Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Driver charged with stealing more than $1M from Michigan banks, credit unions