An employee of a small Indiana credit union was taken by gunpoint from her home Monday night, taken to her office and forced to help rob the facility, police said.
The employee was not harmed in the heist at the $8.7 million Freedom Financial FCU, according to a report from the Fort Wayne Police Department.
The report said two men approached the woman at about 9:30 p.m. outside her home as she returned from work, where they blindfolded her, tied her up and held her captive until after dark.
The two suspects then traveled with their victim to the 2,200-member credit union's office in her own vehicle, where they forced her to enter the building and hand over an undetermined amount of cash, police said.
The suspects then fled the scene in the employee's vehicle, leaving her behind, the report said. Police said it was later found abandoned at a different location.
The crime is under investigation by the Northeast Indiana Bank Robbery Task Force, which includes the Fort Wayne Police Department, Allen County Sheriff's Department, Indiana State Police and FBI.
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Natasha Chilingerian
Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.
