Ex-Federal Reserve Bank analyst admits he stole sensitive records

A former Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago senior analyst admitted Thursday he stole confidential financial records from the bank as he prepared to quit and take another job.

Jeffrey Cho, 35, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of theft of property and faces up to a year in prison. He appeared Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Mason, who scheduled a June 21 sentencing hearing.

The feds say Cho had access to “sensitive, proprietary and valuable information” that included data related to the bank’s responsibility to monitor the health of other financial institutions. They say he printed one confidential document and took it home before accepting a job with an unnamed employer May 12. Then he printed 31 more and took those home.

Finally, prosectors say he printed three documents May 26, the day he resigned from the bank.

When the FBI initially confronted him, prosecutors say, Cho denied taking the papers home. Later, he turned over four of them and told the feds he shredded the rest. On June 6, they say he turned over a bag full of shredded documents to the FBI.

Prosecutors also say Cho admitted printing similar documents while interviewing for a job with a different company in March 2015.