Jeffrey Suspenzi, a former bank executive and the son of Parkway Bank chairman Rocco Suspenzi, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court Wednesday to embezzling nearly $500,000 from a client’s credit account.
Suspenzi, 34, of South Elgin, hesitated momentarily before admitting that from December 2000 to June 2001, he had cashier’s checks ranging from $216 to $103,000 drafted on the client’s account.
Suspenzi would then forge the client’s signature on the checks and cash them at Parkway Bank.
In 2001, he encouraged the client to increase a credit line at the bank from $1 million to $1.5 million, Assistant U.S. Atty. Jeffrey Cramer said.
To conceal the scheme, Suspenzi would pay the interest on the credit account, according to his admission.
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He also admitted Wednesday that he filed false tax returns in 2000 and 2001 that concealed the income he was receiving from the account.
When Senior Judge Harry Leinenweber asked Suspenzi whether he had falsified his tax returns, Suspenzi replied, “I didn’t think it was income, that’s why I didn’t report it.”
His lawyer, Thomas Breen, quickly responded that Suspenzi understands the money was income and that he was admitting his guilt.
Suspenzi will be sentenced in February.