Former CU Manager Gets a Day in Prison for Money Laundering, Bribery in Public Corruption Case

Kevin M. Biederman, a former business development manager for the $1.1 billion Philadelphia Federal Credit Union, was sentenced to just one day in prison for his role in helping Pennsylvania public officials, including an elected judge, launder money.

U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter in Philadelphia last week also ordered Biederman to serve 30 months of supervised release and pay a $2,000 fine and a $200 special assessment. 

Biederman, who worked at the credit union from 2012 to 2016, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and bank bribery in March 2018. Other felony charges against him were dropped by federal prosecutors.

Court records do not indicate why the former credit union employee received a light sentence because at least seven court filings, including Biederman’s plea deal, were sealed by the judge and prosecutors from public inspection. 

Prosecutors did not respond to messages from CU Times and a spokesperson declined to comment.

Three Bucks County public officials who were sentenced to federal prison faced charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering, wire fraud, mail fraud and extortion.

According to the court documents, from June 2015 to November 2016, the public officials and Biederman conspired to launder $400,000 in cash during an undercover police investigation that included a cooperating witness. The undercover cops told the public officials the money that needed to be laundered came from illegal drug trafficking, health care and bank fraud schemes.

The public officials charged the undercover cops $80,000 in money laundering fees and paid off Biederman to prepare packets of fake documents to make the transactions appear legitimate.

What’s more, Biederman solicited and accepted a bribe of $1,600 to influence PFCU approval for a loan. However, court documents do not reveal details about the type of loan, its amount or who it was for. 

The public officials who pleaded guilty to various felony charges included John I. Waltman of Trevose, a former Bucks County magisterial district judge, Robert P. Hoopes of Doylestown, former director of public safety for Lower Southhampton Township, and Bernard T. Rafferty of Langhorne, a former Pennsylvania deputy constable and the owner of Raff’s Consulting LLC.

Waltman was sentenced to 78 months in prison and fined $5,000. Hoopes was sentenced to 54 months in prison and fined $10,000, and Rafferty was sentenced to 18 months in prison, according to court records.