RALEIGH, N.C. – Nearly 50 credit union security executives and law enforcement personnel turned out here for the first open meeting of the Risk Management Council, a newly-formed committee of the North Carolina Credit Union League to fight robberies and cybercrime. "We had a great turnout with presentations by Raleigh Police Chief Jane Perlov and others on the latest procedures to deter identity fraud and the first steps credit unions should take to help those members who become victims," said Kim Bohannon, assistant vice president of regulatory/compliance services for the League. The six-member Council, set up in January and designed to promote greater sharing of crime information between CUs and law enforcement agencies, said it will hold its next meeting in Charlotte on about July 21. The Council, whose session here drew TV coverage on three Raleigh stations, is looking to invite the South Carolina League to participate in the Charlotte meeting. Chairman of the Council, which CUNA Mutual is looking at for possible national expansion, is Rob Goldfinger, director of risk management at Coastal FCU and a retired former commander of criminal investigations in Rochester, N.Y., Bohannon said the May 18 meeting appeared to prove productive to both CU personnel and to law enforcement executives in creating new communication channels particularly on "who to contact first" for incidences of ID theft and other crimes. "We also received some helpful information about suspicious activity reports from an agent with the U.S. Secret Service," noted Bohannon referring to Donna James, headquartered in the agency's Greensboro office. A League spokesman noted that while initial enthusiasm for the Council work focused on ID theft, "our Executive Committee felt the Council can be helpful in a strategic sense" for robberies and other crimes.. In addition to South Carolina CU reps at the meeting, also in attendance were executives from Navy FCU in Alexandria, Va. Bohannon said the Council intends to meet quarterly and that she has had interest expressed in the structure from other Leagues noting most recently, "we did have a call recently from the Massachusetts League" asking about the North Carolina program. -

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