http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15675102?source=most_emailed&nclick_check=1Posted:

08/04/2010 08:02:19 AM PDT

Updated: 08/04/2010 11:26:48 AM PDT

A former San Jose bank manager has pleaded guilty to embezzling money from several elderly customers and agreed to serve a six-year prison sentence, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.

John Tran, 37, pleaded guilty Friday as part of a plea agreement to charges including theft from an elder, grand theft and forgery, according to the district attorney's office. Tran, who will formally be sentenced Oct. 5, also agreed to pay $552,540 in restitution to Wells Fargo Bank, which has already reimbursed all of its customers who lost money in the scheme. Tran also reimbursed victims who were not reimbursed by Wells Fargo, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office.

Tran was manager of the Wells Fargo Bank branch on Lincoln Avenue in San Jose from March 2008 to February 2009. Prosecutors say Tran befriended several elderly clients, visiting them at their homes.

Tran stopped working for the bank in February 2009. But prosecutors say he kept on visiting and talked some of them into investing money from certificates of deposit. Prosecutors say he bilked them using an elaborate money-laundering scheme.

Prosecutors alleged Tran also forged signatures, including of customers who had recently died, and drained their accounts.

The elder fraud unit of the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office has seen a trend of bank managers and tellers preying on elderly victims, prosecutor Cherie Bourlard said. Bourlard stressed the importance of family members keeping a watchful eye on the bank accounts of their elderly relatives.

"If you can't trust your local banker, who can you trust?" Bourlard said.