CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A local woman admitted in federal court Monday morning to stealing nearly half a million dollars from people who thought she was setting up their retirement accounts.
Channel 9 reporter Tina Terry was inside the courtroom and learned Cynthia Williams-Singleton was accused of going to extreme lengths to take the victims' money.
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Williams-Singleton did not have much to say as she left the courtroom. Investigators said she was a customer service representative at a Charlotte call center and had access to retirement fund records.
Agents said she fraudulently withdrew about $458,000 from eight participant accounts without authorization. She is also accused of submitting fake death certificates to initiate beneficiary payments to herself, her immediate family and relatives.
Most of the victims are older than 70.
Williams-Singleton is currently awaiting sentencing. The maximum penalty for this crime is 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine -- or both.
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