NCUA Bans Four Former Credit Union Employees

The NCUA issued October prohibition notices Wednesday that banned four former employees, including two CEOs, from participating in the affairs of any federally insured financial institution.

Savannah Yang, a former employee of the $2.2 billion Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union in Saint Paul, Minn., who opened a fraudulent account in the name of a member she knew had an intellectual disability, pleaded guilty to embezzlement in November 2017, according to federal court documents. Yang created the fake accounts in the names of members to steal money from the credit union. In March, she was sentenced to 21 months in prison, one year of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $286,665 in restitution.

Krista Putman, a former president/CEO of the G.H. Woodworkers Federal Credit Union in Aberdeen, Wash., who set documents ablaze to conceal her theft during an NCUA examination last year, pleaded guilty to theft in November 2017. She was sentenced in January to 14 months in prison and was ordered to pay $335,758 in restitution. GH Woodworkers Federal Credit Union was merged into the $142 million Great NorthWest Federal Credit Union also based in Aberdeen in January.

Christine Darley, a former president/CEO of the $3 million Panhandle Cooperative Federal Credit Union in Scottsbluff, Neb., pleaded guilty to bank fraud last year. In January, Darley was sentenced to time served, five years’ supervised release, and was ordered to pay $139,878 in restitution. Darley withdrew funds and deposited the money into personal accounts she controlled at the credit union or at a local bank. She falsified documents to conceal her theft from the board of directors. After determining PCFCU’s poor financial condition, the NCUA approved the credit union’s consolidation in 2016 with the $384 million Meridian Trust Credit Union in Cheyenne, Wyo.

Janell Purdy, a former teller and customer service representative of $3.1 million First Hawaiian Homes Credit Union in Hoolehua, Hawaii, pleaded guilty conspiracy to commit embezzlement in April. Purdy was sentenced in July to four years in federal prison, three years’ supervised release, and was ordered to pay $949,736 in restitution. Purdy along with the former President/CEO Allennie Naeole conspired to siphon funds from the credit union Naeole was sentenced in June to seven years in federal prison. She was ordered to pay $1,055,188 in restitution. They withdrew and spent more money from personal credit union accounts in their names and in the names of family members than was available in deposits, which created negative balances. They concealed the negative balances by altering the books and records that showed fake deposits. The NCUA liquidated the credit union in December 2015. First Hawaiian Homes’ assets were assumed by the $25.9 million Molokai Community Federal Credit Union of Kaunakakai.