Former Missouri Federal Reserve Employee Confesses to Embezzling Nearly $2.4 Million

A former Mid-Missouri bank employee faces up to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to stealing more than $2.3 million from customer accounts at the Exchange Bank of Missouri branch in Fayette.

Federal prosecutors say Megan Lea Dougherty, 36, of Higbee, stole the money over a 15-year period. She pleaded guilty in Jefferson City to a federal information charging her with one count of bank fraud.

Ms. Dougherty was employed at the Fayette branch of Exchange Bank of Missouri and in pleading guilty, she admits the money fraud took place from 2009 to October 2023. Federal prosecutors say Dougherty told investigators she targeted customers who knew and trusted her.

Federal Judge Willie Epps will sentence her at a later date. The FBI investigated the case.