Beth Ann Ledbetter, a former branch manager of the $63 million Valley Credit Union in Tuscumbia, Ala., has been sentenced to two years' probation for participating in a scheme that embezzled more than $61,000.
While on probation, Ledbetter will serve six months of home detention without electronic monitoring and under the supervision of a probation officer, according to court documents.
Ledbetter was sentenced Oct. 22 by U.S. District Court Judge Inge P. Johnson in Birmingham, Ala.
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Ledbetter pleaded guilty in June to bank larceny in which she and two other credit union employees embezzled more than $61,000 from Aug. 1, 2011 to Aug. 12, 2012.
Tonya M. Payne, a former accounting clerk, was sentenced to two years' probation in September after pleading guilty to one count of bank larceny. Stacey Marie Mathes, a former loan officer, also was placed on two years of probation in August after pleading guilty to one count of bank larceny.
The three former employees paid full restitution of $61,666 to Valley CU in September, court documents show.
Between Aug. 1, 2011 and Aug. 12, 2012, Payne, Mathes and Ledbetter wrote checks from their checking accounts to make payments on their credit union loan accounts, but the checks were never posted or cleared, according to court documents.
On other occasions, no checks were written, presented or cleared, yet the employees still had payments credited to their Valley CU loan accounts.
The credits to Payne's, Mathes' and Ledbetter's loan accounts were covered by other Valley CU members' account deposits. Court papers state the other members' deposits were held before being presented to Valley CU's money market account at First Metro Bank. However, other members' deposits were posted to their accounts without delay.
According to court documents, Valley CU deposits to its money market account at First Metro Bank were not made on a daily basis and the sporadic nature of the deposits facilitated the wrongful posting of the checks. There was no loss to other members' accounts, but the loss affected Valley CU's money market account at First Metro Bank, court records show.Valley CU serves 6,534 members.
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Peter Strozniak
Credit Union Times reporter covering credit union operations, fraud, M&As, leagues, business continuity, and breaking news.
