E. Providence man pleads guilty of stealing from Fleet

PROVIDENCE – Peter Townsend, 33, of 75 Purchase St., East Providence, has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, Providence, to charges that he diverted $240,000 in Fleet Bank funds to accounts under his control while he was working in Fleet’s electronic banking operations department. He was arraigned before Judge Roland R. Lagueux. Townsend is free on unsecured bond pending sentencing Jan. 2 before Judge Lagueux. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ira Belkin told the court that between April 2000 and February of this year, Townsend used fraudulent credit memos to divert Fleet Bank funds into three personal bank accounts–two checking and one savings account–in the names of other individuals but under his control. He gained access to the money by making ATM withdrawals and was arrested by federal agents and Providence police while attempting to make an ATM withdrawal at a convenience store in Providence. He is specifically charged with three counts of bank fraud, each count corresponding to the account in to which Townsend transferred funds.