Former CU Employee Gets One Day in Jail for Embezzling More Than $85,000

Kaylyn Wolfe, a former member services representative for the $5.3 billion Members 1st Federal Credit Union, was sentenced to a day in jail for embezzling more than $85,000.

U.S. District Court Judge Christopher C. Conner in Harrisburg also sentenced Wolfe last week to three years of supervised release and ordered her to pay restitution of $85,679 to the Mechanicsburg, Pa.-based credit union.

Wolfe’s lawyer asked for probation, arguing Wolfe would lose her job if sent to prison and would be unable to pay restitution. Based on federal sentencing guidelines, the 32-year-old, Mechanicsburg-area woman was facing a prison term of eight to 14 months.

Federal prosecutors did not make any specific sentencing recommendations to Judge Conner.

While working in Members 1st’s card services department, Wolfe made numerous unauthorized changes to credit cards that belonged to her and her husband by increasing their credit to the maximum allowable limit, permitting spending over the credit limit and allowing for cash advances that exceeded authorized limits, according to court documents.

These unauthorized actions that occurred from September 2016 to September 2017 also increased cash-back rewards from the use of the cards.

Wolfe took various steps to evade automated alerts within the Members 1st system, and she also made minimum payments on the accounts so they would remain in good standing.

According to court documents, the credit union discovered the unauthorized transactions and initially requested Wolfe to repay the funds in full, which she was unable to do. Members 1st fired her in September 2017.

Wolfe was later interviewed by the FBI, which led to the embezzlement charge brought by federal prosecutors in June. She pleaded guilty in July.

Wolfe embezzled the funds because her family was struggling financially, according to court documents.

In July, Brooke Shaeffer, a former teller for Members 1st, was also sentenced to five years of probation for stealing more than $19,000 from the credit union.