On its website, 1^st Provision Credit Union claims it was founded in 1998. However, on its Facebook page, the organization posted a picture in November 2016 of an unidentified man cutting a cake celebrating the credit union's 36^th anniversary.

1^st Provision CU also claims on its website that it has 60 staff members, offers 20 services and serves 25,000 customers.

In addition, the credit union states that it is insured by the NCUA and is an equal housing lender. Interestingly, next to the NCUA graphic, a statement reads: “Our Routine Number 281789876.”

CU Times calls and email messages seeking comment from 1^st Provision on Monday were not returned.

A spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation declined to answer CU Times questions on when the state regulator became aware that 1^st Provision was operating without a mandated charter, how long did the organization operate as a credit union without a charter, and if the credit union was functioning without a charter for years, then why did it take the state regulator so long to stop 1^st Provision from operating as a credit union?

NCUA Public Affairs Specialist John Fairbanks declined to comment on the Illinois' cease and desist order, but he confirmed that the federal agency has no relationship with 1^st Provision.

The credit union has until Nov. 7 to request a review of the cease and desist order with the state regulator.

The Illinois Division of Financial Institutions also issued 60-day suspension orders for the $3.7 million Route 1 Credit Union in Paris, Ill., and the $124,564 St. Elizabeth Credit Union in Chicago. The suspension orders were issued because both credit unions were in danger of insolvency, according to the state regulator.

For Route 1 CU, the allowance for loan losses was underfunded by more than $34,000. The credit union also allegedly failed to appoint the state minimum of three supervisory committee members, and the supervisory committee did not complete an annual audit last year, according to the state regulator.

However, the Route 1 CU will be merged into the $259 million Decatur Earthmover Credit Union in Forsyth, Ill., on Wednesday, according to Decatur Earthmover CU President/CEO Barry Schmidt. On Oct. 3, the state regulator named the credit union as the manager/trustee of Route CU to maintain its operations during the suspension.

Founded in 1957, Route 1 CU served 979 members.

At the St. Elizabeth CU, several issues including missing loan documents, a high delinquency loan ratio, various bookkeeping discrepancies and other operational issues were uncovered during a state examination. For example, St. Elizabeth CU paid dividends even though there was not a legal board quorum to vote on whether to distribute the dividends.

St. Elizabeth CU did not return a CU Times call for comment Monday.