Michael Anthony LaJoice, the 36-year-old CFO for the $68 million Clarkston Brandon Community Credit Union in Clarkston, Mich., pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of embezzlement Friday in Oakland County 52-2 District Court, a court official said. His plea came two days after he confessed to stealing $20 million from the cooperative.
His bond was set at $1 million and was returned to the Oakland County Jail following his arraignment.
According to the Detroit News, LaJoice walked into the Oakland County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday morning and admitted that he embezzled $20 million over 12 years from the credit union.
The Detroit newspaper said criminal investigators were stunned about LaJoice's admission, who owns a development company and publicly announced in October plans to build a retail and residential project that local media reported was the biggest development project in the history of Fenton, Mich., located about 60 miles northwest of Detroit.
Police confirmed Friday LaJoice (pictured at left) was in custody and waiting to be arraigned.
"We are currently conducting an investigation into a possible embezzlement of funds from the credit union by a former employee," Donna B. Bullard, president/CEO of the Clarkston Brandon Community CU, said in a prepared statement to CU Times.
"While this investigation is proceeding, we want to assure our members that it is business as usual at the credit union," she wrote. "Members should remember that all accounts are insured by the NCUA, a federal share insurance agency, for up to $250,000. At this time we are unable to comment any further while the investigation is ongoing. Members will be updated in the future when more information is available."
Local media reported that search warrants were executed at LaJoice's home in Tyronne Township, Mich., located about seven miles south of Fenton, and at the Chassé Ballroom and Latin Dance Studio in Fenton, which LaJoice has owned since June 2007, according to his LinkedIn page.
LaJoice was hired as the credit union's CFO in May 2003, and in January 2006, he opened LaJoice Enterprises Inc. as its president/CEO, according to LinkedIn. In June 2007, he opened the dance studio, and in April 2015, he founded LaJoice Properties LLC.
Local media also reported that investigators confiscated a safe, computers and business records from LaJoice's $1.3 million, 5,800-square-foot home.
A preliminary police investigation found that the fraudulent scheme was allegedly carried out with fake transactions and investments to conceal the embezzled funds, which began to unravel during a recent audit at the credit union, the Detroit News reported.
The newspaper also reported that it is unknown what prompted LaJoice to turn himself in and that investigators were trying to determine if anyone else might have been involved in the alleged embezzlement.
In a February 2015 interview with the Tri-County Times, a Fenton newspaper, LaJoice described himself as "an accountant by day and a dance studio owner by night."
According to NCUA Financial Performance reports, Clarkston Brandon Community CU posted a net worth of 8.57% as of September 2015, below the peer average of 11.52%. The credit union's ROAA was 0.50%, slightly higher than the peer average of 0.43%.
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