NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A 69-year-old former J.P. Morgan Chase employee pled guilty Wednesday to stealing about $4.5 million from client accounts, according to federal prosecutors.

Jacqueline M. McTair, a former assistant treasurer at the bank, embezzled more than $4.5 million from the accounts of Columbia University and at least three individual Chase customers beginning in September 1998, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York said.

She pled guilty in Manhattan federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and embezzlement by a bank officer. McTair also pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, prosecutors said.

The U.S. attorney's office said that McTair used her position to directly withdraw funds from Columbia's account. She's also alleged to have cashed checks received from Columbia intended for deposit into Columbia's Chase accounts. And prosecutors said McTair also transferred funds from Columbia accounts into individual customer accounts, from which she would later withdraw cash.

So far, $50,000 has been recovered from McTair, the U.S. attorney's office said. The embezzlement count carries a maximum sentence of 30 years' imprisonment, the steepest possible prison term among the charges.

McTair, of Teaneck, N.J., could not be reached for comment.