CU Employee Tip Leads to Theft Bust of Public Official

A credit union employee alerted police that a Texas public official allegedly stole more than $35,000 to pay off a blackmailing dominatrix mistress.

Gregory Lueb, 56, a former Harris County first assistant treasurer was charged with felony theft last week, according to Harris County prosecutors in Houston. He appeared in court on Tuesday and did not enter a plea.

In September 2017, Rhonda White, a collections manager for the $162 million Harris County Federal Credit Union in Houston, reported a suspected credit card fraud scheme to the Harris County Sheriff’s office, which launched an investigation.

Lueb, a credit union member, opened a credit card account with HCFCU in September 2016.

White reported to police that online payments were made to Lueb’s account, but that all of those payments were ultimately returned without the credit union receiving any payment toward his account.

White described the pattern of online payments — that were later returned — and cash advances while the account was still credited with the online payment amount, which allowed Lueb to obtain cash advances of more than $35,000, according to a police investigator’s report.

By December 2016, HCFCU closed Lueb’s account with a balance of $42,183, which included interest and fees.

When Lueb was interviewed by police in early April, he said that he needed help with a situation involving a woman named Mistress Cindy who he met through a bondage, discipline and sadomasochism website.

According to police, Lueb said he had a relationship with Cindy. She began demanding money from him or else she would tell his wife.

Lueb told police that the blackmail was what led him to open the HCFCU credit card account from which he made the cash withdrawals. He also said Mistress Cindy would tell him when a payment had been made so that he could take another cash advance against the credit account in order to wire the funds as she directed, according to the police report.

Police said they confirmed Lueb’s blackmail claims after reviewing text messages between him and Mistress Cindy who demanded that Lueb send her money.

Police obtained bank account information used to make the returned online payments but determined that Lueb was not the account holder for any of the payment accounts. Police interviewed two persons from out of state whose bank accounts were used to make the returned online payments to Lueb’s credit account, but they denied knowing him or giving him authorization to use their funds to pay his credit card.

Bank records show that on more than eight occasions an online payment was made to Lueb’s credit account. Once the payment was received, the corresponding amount of credit would be made available for use on the account.

After the additional credit was made available, a cash withdrawal was made. And after the withdrawals were made, the payments to the account were reserved, according to police.

Lueb’s trial is set for May.