A former teller supervisor at a Sandy Spring Bank branch in Silver Spring has been permanently banned from the banking industry after federal regulators determined she siphoned roughly $246,000 from automated cash machines at her branch. Renee Nicole Brown, who was terminated from the bank in August 2024, is now serving time at the Montgomery County Detention Center after a Maryland court convicted her in the theft scheme.
The Federal Reserve Board issued the enforcement action against Brown under Section 8(e) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, with her written consent, according to MoCoShow. The order permanently bars Brown from participating in the affairs of any insured depository institution without prior regulatory approval, a prohibition that covers serving as an officer, director, or employee of covered institutions and remains in effect unless the Federal Reserve modifies or lifts it in writing.
Court records reported by American Banker fill in details the initial regulatory announcement left out: Brown was sentenced to 10 years in prison with all but one year suspended, followed by five years of supervised probation, and began serving her active jail term on August 31. Brown pleaded guilty and was convicted under Maryland law on May 4, and she was ordered to make partial restitution to Sandy Spring Bank.
How the Theft Unfolded Inside the Branch
According to the underlying facts described in the federal order, Brown misappropriated the funds from teller cash dispenser machines between mid-2023 and mid-2024, while working as a teller supervisor. These automated units, known in the industry as TCD and TCR systems, are specialized branch vault machines built to balance, track, and dispense currency automatically.
The scale of Brown's theft stands out even among federal banking enforcement actions. American Banker's report notes that while regulators periodically bar low-level bank employees over internal theft, the $246,000 Brown took is unusually large compared to typical teller theft cases, with most federal prohibition actions involving amounts under $50,000. Federal Reserve enforcement records bear that out: the same agency barred a Regions Bank employee in August 2025 for embezzling $17,981 from a teller drawer, and barred a First Horizon Bank teller in 2025 over a $34,000 theft, the outlet reported.
Legal Authority Behind the Lifetime Ban
Section 8(e) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act gives federal banking regulators broad administrative authority to bar an institution-affiliated party from the industry nationwide once illegal conduct, breach of fiduciary duty, or personal dishonesty is established, according to the FDIC. Such orders apply across all federally insured financial institutions, meaning Brown cannot simply move to a bank in another state and resume similar work.
A Branch That No Longer Carries the Sandy Spring Name
The branch where the theft occurred no longer operates under the Sandy Spring name at all. Sandy Spring Bank, founded in 1868 and headquartered in Olney, was Montgomery County's largest locally based bank for more than 150 years before it was acquired by Atlantic Union Bankshares Corporation in an all-stock deal worth approximately $1.3 billion that closed on April 1, 2025 — well after Brown's misconduct and termination. The bank held $14.4 billion in assets and $11.7 billion in deposits as of late 2024, per the Maryland Daily Record.
Atlantic Union Bank completed full operational and systems integration of Sandy Spring Bank on October 14, 2025, unifying all 53 former Sandy Spring branches across Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia under the Atlantic Union brand, according to The MoCo Show. That means the Silver Spring branch tied to Brown's theft has operated under Atlantic Union Bank branding for nearly a year now. The acquisition expanded the Richmond-based lender to roughly $39 billion in total assets and 180 branch locations, making it the largest regional bank headquartered in the lower Mid-Atlantic.
