NCUA Bans Seven Former Credit Union Employees

Two former credit union CEOs, two former employees of Florida’s largest credit union, a teller, and two other ex-staff members were banned from participating in the affairs of any federally insured credit union, the NCUA said Monday.

Although federal prosecutors sought a four-month prison term Connie Marie Kent, who stole $43,544 from the formerly-named Topeka Post Office Credit Union over nine years, a federal judge in Kansas sentenced the former CEO to “time served,” and three years of supervised release in June. Kent was ordered to pay restitution of $18,225 to the $8.9 million 1st Kansas Credit Union in Topeka and $25,329 to CUNA Mutual Group.

Richard Fortney, a former president/CEO of the $11.7 million Mid East Tennessee Community Credit Union in Decatur, Tenn., was banned because the NCUA alleged that from June to October 2018, Fortney filed false Call Reports to manipulate the credit union’s net worth. METCCU, chartered in 2008, was conserved by the independent federal agency in April. At the end of the second quarter, the credit union posted a net loss of nearly $600,000 and a net worth of 1.37%, according to NCUA financial performance reports. Fortney neither admitted nor denied the allegations in NCUA’s administrative order.

Devin S. Williams and Jamelah Y. Martinez, former employees for Florida’s largest credit union, the $10.3 billion Suncoast Credit Union in Tampa, each pleaded guilty in separate legal proceedings to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. In both cases, they admitted to obtaining credit union member information and their account information. Williams and Martinez then provided this information to unidentified co-conspirators who took over those accounts. They deposited phony checks into the accounts and then transferred the fake check funds to other co-conspirators who held Suncoast CU accounts from which the stolen money was withdrawn. Martinez was sentenced by a federal judge to 60 months of supervised released in December 2018, and he was ordered to pay $115,487 in restitution. Williams was sentenced by a federal judge to 12 months of probation in March 2019, and he was ordered to pay $113,195 in restitution.

Former teller Teresa Ann Perkins admitted that she embezzled more than $300,000 from members for nearly 11 years at the $23 Community United Federal Credit Union in Waycross, Ga. She was sentenced by a federal judge in February 2018 to 18 months in prison, five years of supervised release, and she was ordered to pay $325,125 in restitution. Community United FCU was merged into the $174 million United 1st Federal Credit Union in Kingsland, Ga. in 2017.

Jenifer M. Nelson, a former employee of the $7.4 million Baker’s Federal Credit Union in Omaha, Neb., was banned after she pleaded guilty to attempted theft by deception of ($1,500 to $4,999) in a county court. The NCUA administrative order did not specify how much money Nelson allegedly attempted to steal.

Jasmine Marie Santos, a former employee at the $266 million People’s Alliance Federal Credit Union in Hauppauge, N.Y., allegedly issued fake loans to members without their knowledge and then caused the credit union to disburse funds from these loans via teller checks. She allegedly cashed the disbursement checks and used the funds for personal expenses, according to the NCUA administrative order. The independent federal agency does not specify how much money Santos allegedly stole. Santos did not admit nor deny the allegations.