BATON ROUGE — A Plaquemine man pleaded not guilty to bank fraud charges after more than $250,000 was diverted from customer accounts at a Regions Bank branch.

Eric Schouest, 53, managed Regions Bank Plank Road branch. He is accused of moving customers' money into his own accounts and using it to pay personal expenses, including his house and car. The thefts happened in 2020 and 2021. 

A Regions spokesperson said that the customers were reimbursed for the embezzled funds.

"Our company deeply values the trust our customers place in us. If that trust is ever violated, that goes against everything we believe in," said Jeremy King, Regions Bank's senior vice president of media and public relations.

Schouest, who worked at Regions from 2010 to 2021, is accused of faking paperwork to cover up the embezzling scheme, Department of Justice records said.

The embezzlement and bank fraud indictment counts are each punishable by a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a maximum $1 million fine.