BATON ROUGE — U.S. District Judge John W. deGravelles has sentenced a former Regions Bank branch manager to serve time in federal prison.
Eric Jason Schouest, 53, of Plaquemine, was ordered to spend 30 months in federal prison following his convictions for embezzlement and bank fraud. He must also serve two years of supervised release following his imprisonment and must pay $86,375.89 in restitution.
Schouest was employed at Regions Bank from 2010 to 2021 as a branch manager
overseeing business transactions and practices at the Regions Bank Plank Road branch. In his
capacity as branch manager, he had the authority to access customer accounts, instruct others to
open and close accounts, issue cashier’s checks, and transfer funds in and out of customer accounts.
“Schouest exploited his position of trust at Regions Bank to embezzle funds from customers
and deposit the money into his personal bank accounts. He also sent false and fraudulent emails
and forged documents to conceal his scheme from other Regions Bank employees. Some of the
traceable fraudulent funds were used to make loan payments on personal items such as a house
and a car. Through his scheme, Schouest misappropriated more than $250,000 from Regions
customer accounts,” said U.S. Middle District Attorney Ron Gathe.
The Social Security Administration Office of the Inspector General, the United States Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and the U.S. Secret Service all investigated the case.
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