Ex-bank manager Amy Scarpelli released from jail

Amy Scarpelli, accused of embezzling $5.2 million from U.S. Bank in Miamisburg, was released Monday morning from Butler County Jail.

The 48-year-old did not have to post bail because she agreed to wear an electronic monitoring device as part of the conditions of her bond. Her attorney said he gave the court a couple of addresses of places Scarpelli would reside and avoid contact with any potential co-conspirators.

She waived her preliminary hearing and speedy trial provisions at a Thursday hearing in front of U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Sharon Ovington.

Assistant U.S. attorney Brent Tabacchi and defense attorneys Dennis Gump and Lawrence Greger filed a joint motion to wave a timely indictment/information for a period of up to 30 days.

That changed the date from Nov. 1 to Dec. 1 for any potential indictment. There are no further hearings currently scheduled, according to court documents filed in Dayton's U.S. District Court.

Gump and Greger on Wednesday filed a motion asking the court to allow Scarpelli to reside at a residence in West Carrollton once a land-line phone number had been established. The resident of that address has agreed to be a third-party custodian, and has agreed to call law enforcement if Scarpelli violates her bond.

Gump predicted that other people listed in the federal complaint against Scarpelli could face similar charges. Rather than list all the people Scarpelli could not have contact with, Greger told Ovington she could issue a "no contact with the world" order.

Todd Bagby, Resident Agent in Charge of Dayton's United States Secret Service office, declined to comment about other possible complaints. He said the 6-month-old investigation is ongoing and authorities are looking at more evidence.

Scarpelli and her friends gambled, vacationed and spent freely, according to a federal complaint..

She and her domestic partner also allegedly had lots at Lake Waynoka, and a Secret Service investigation "revealed Caribbean cruises," paid for by Scarpelli and her domestic partner. Scarpelli also bought a lake house, campers, boats, motorcycles and cars.

UPDATE @ 10:22 a.m.: We have reports that Amy Scarpelli is no longer an inmate at the Butler County Jail.

UPDATE @ 5:55 a.m. OCT. 20: Former bank manager Amy Scarpelli will leave the custody of Butler County Jail later this morning, according to the jail.

The jail said U.S. Marshals will handle her case.

She is accused of embezzling $5.2 million from the Miamisburg branch of U.S. Bank.

UPDATE @ 6:27 p.m. OCT. 16:

Former bank manager Amy Scarpelli, accused of embezzling $5.2 million from the Miamisburg branch of U.S. Bank, will be released on bond in the next couple of days, her attorney said.

She also waived her preliminary hearing and speedy trial provisions in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Sharon Ovington on Thursday in Dayton's U.S. District Court.

Wearing orange-and-white Butler County Jail clothing, Scarpelli, 48, answered Ovington's questions and said she voluntarily gave up her rights to a speedy trial and to a preliminary hearing.

Scarpelli will be released on bond, provided she wears an electronic monitoring device, has the person and residence at which she is to stay cleared by pretrial services and she has no contact with anyone listed in the federal complaint and affidavit.

"She'll be able to still help us," said one of her attorneys, Dennis Gump. "This is the greatest thing for us. We're not in a 6x6 cell trying to ask questions and get answers."

Gump and co-counsel Lawrence Greger on Wednesday filed a motion asking the court to allow Scarpelli to reside at a residence in West Carrollton once a land-line phone number has been established. The resident of that address has agreed to be a third-party custodian, and has agreed to call law enforcement if Scarpelli violates any condition of her bond.

"There will be no indictment for a while," Gump said. "And the longer we extend it, the better off we are, because that gives us an opportunity to work with Amy and the assistant U.S. district attorneys."

Gump predicted that other people listed in the federal complaint against Scarpelli could face similar charges as early as next week. He said the assistant U.S. attorneys did not object to the motion to let Scarpelli out on bond, but that they "requested restrictions."

Rather than list all the people Scarpelli could not have contact with, Greger told Ovington she could issue a "no contact with the world" order.

Todd Bagby, Resident Agent in Charge of Dayton's United States Secret Service office, declined to comment about possible complaints against other people, but he did say the 6-month-old investigation worked on by at least 15 agencies is ongoing, and authorities are looking at more evidence.

Court documents allege Scarpelli embezzled $5.2 million from 2009 to 2014 by using a sophisticated methodology of withdrawing funds from between $25,000 and $45,000 and replacing them with cashier's checks in a roofing business' line of credit that was supposed to have been closed.

Bagby said U.S. Bank discovered the alleged illegal activity. Court documents said the bank came across the embezzlement while conducting an unrelated investigation.

Scarpelli and her friends gambled, vacationed and spent freely, according to a federal complaint. As of May 2014, starting in 2009, Scarpelli had approximately $12,287,112.37 in "coins in," or money spent at slot machines, at Hollywood Casino, while her domestic partner had $7,702,695.22 in "coins in." Both were awarded "icon" status at the casino in Lawrenceburg, Ind.

Scarpelli and her domestic partner also allegedly had lots at Lake Waynoka, and a Secret Service investigation "revealed Caribbean cruises," paid for by Scarpelli and her domestic partner. Scarpelli also bought a lake house, built a pole barn and purchased four campers, three boats (two pontoons and a ski-boat), six motorcycles and a pair of late 1960s Chevrolet Camaros.

Scarpelli, who was hired as a teller at the Miamisburg branch at 515 E. Central Ave. in 1996, became branch manager in 2006. Investigators wrote that Scarpelli's legitimate income from the bank was between $61,000 to $69,000 per year since 2009.

UPDATE @ 2 p.m. OCT. 16:

During a hearing Thursday afternoon, Judge Sharon L. Ovington agreed to allow Scarpelli, who is accused of embezzling more than $5 million from the U.S. Bank branch she managed, to be freed on bond.

However, she will not be released until officials address some logistical issues, including a place Scarpelli will live, phone service and the like. As part of the agreement, Scarpelli is barred from making contact with any of the people the government mentioned in a nearly 70 page affidavit outlining their case against her.

During the hearing Scarpelli waived her right to preliminary hearing and a speedy trial, meaning the case will not immediately go to a grand jury.

It's unclear how much Scarpelli's bond will be.

FIRST REPORT

Amy Scarpelli, the former bank manager accused for embezzling more than $5 million, is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Dayton on Thursday afternoon.

Her hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. in Judge Sharon L. Ovington's courtroom. We have reporters in the courtroom, and we'll update you as soon as the hearing is over.

Scarpelli, who formerly managed the Miamisburg branch of U.S. Bank, allegedly embezzled the funds by creating fake loans against the dormant credit account of a business customer, a Miamisburg roofing materials supplier, Rooftek Roofing and Supply Inc. (RRSI). By November 2011, that customer's account had become inactive, federal investigators said.

But that one account became Scarpelli's platform for fake loans and fake repayments, engineering multiple withdrawals of relatively small cash bundles. She and her friends used the stolen funds to travel, going on annual cruises, investigators allege. But back in Ohio, their purchases included a $200,000 lake house and a $72,000 pole barn to house their "toys," says the affidavit, which was made public days after Scarpelli's arrest on Oct. 2.

Those toys, according to the affidavit, included four campers, three boats (two pontoon boats and a ski-boat), six motorcycles, a full-size Nissan truck, a golf cart and a pair of "classic cars," including late 1960s Chevrolet Camaros. The affidavit features photos of these vehicles, as well as homes, the barn and vacations — all from Scarpelli's legitimate income from U.S. Bank of $61,000 to $69,000 a year since 2009, investigators say.

Scarpelli, 48, of West Carrollton, has not been indicted yet, and her attorney, Dennis Gump, has said she is not guilty of any crimes.