Former CU CEO Admits He Funneled a $10,000 Loan to Benefit a Political Pal

A former CEO of a Texas credit union will be sentenced in August for conspiring to use his position to funnel a $10,000 loan for a political friend and for failing to file a federal income tax return.

Jimmy Dutchover, who served as president/CEO of the $13.6 million Reeves County Teachers Credit Union in Pecos, pleaded guilty May 29 to one count of conspiracy to defraud the credit union and one count for not filing an income tax return to the IRS, reported the U.S. Attorney’s office in San Antonio.

In addition to his credit union position, he also was a sole business proprietor and a Texas government employee who reportedly worked for longtime San Antonio lawmaker Carlos Uresti. In February, the ex-state senator, Uresti was sentenced to five years in prison for conspiring to commit bribery in a public corruption case in Reeves County in West Texas. He is serving this sentence concurrently with a 12-year prison term he received in an unrelated fraud case last June, according to local media reports.

According to court documents, both men conspired to use Dutchover’s CEO position to secure a $10,000 credit union loan; although it was issued in a name of an unidentified Dutchover relative, the loan was for Uresti’s benefit.

Additionally, Dutchover failed to file a 2015 federal income tax return to report his income of $107,153 from Reeves County TCU, $77,350 from his business and $9,197 from the state of Texas, prosecutors said.

Dutchover faces up to five years in federal prison for the conspiracy charge and up to one year in federal prison for the tax charge. He remains on bond pending sentencing in August. His lawyers did not respond to a CU Times request for comment.

In addition to losing Dutchover, the credit union has lost its federal tax-exempt status, according to the IRS.

The federal agency automatically revokes the tax-exempt status of any non-profit organization, including state-chartered credit unions, that fails to file the required Form 990 — an annual financial return —- for three consecutive years. Reeves County TCU’s tax-exempt status was revoked on May 15, 2015, according to the IRS.

CU Times found only one Form 990 the credit union filed for 2008, which shows Dutchover’s signature, according to the Foundation Center that publicly posts these documents. However, other organizations that publicly post Form 990 returns such as Guidestar, Nonprofit Explorer, the Economic Research Institute and Open 990, did not list any Form 990s from the credit union.

Frank Jimenez is listed as CEO of Reeves County TCU, according to the NCUA. He did not respond to a CU Times request seeking comment about Dutchover and the tax-exempt revocation. The Texas Department of Credit Unions also did not respond to a message seeking comment.