Army soldiers discharged for 3.5 mil stolen from bank

Can you imagine getting ahold of 3.5 million dollars?

I wouldn't know the first thing to do with all of it.

A civilian and some military personnel from Joint Base Lewis-McChord knew exactly what to do with it and that was to get others involved to the tune of approximately 1,800 people.

The Tacoma News Tribune reported a fraud ring was developed that ripped off an Ohio bank of $3.5 mil.

Check out the line up of folks involved:

-->Three soldiers have been discharged

-->35 have charge sheets released who could be prosecuted

-->78 soldiers are believed to have benefited

Not only was the Ohio Bank ripped off but also the Army Exchange Service, Air Force Exchange Service, and the Tacoma Public Utilities.

Civilians received the most money out of the scheme and over $500, 000 are traced to service members according to Army spokesman Chris Ophardt.

Besides the three soldiers from the Tacoma area base, a civilian, Jannie Lee was the mastermind who led the ring. She retained an illegally acquired bank account to pay bills and pay down credit cards.

The majority of military involvement comes from the 14th Engineer Battalion or the 555th Engineer Brigade.

The soldiers accused could face up to five years in prison and a bad-conduct discharge.