Former CU Employee Serving Two-Year Sentence for Multiple Charges

A former employee for the $14 billion Suncoast Credit Union has begun serving a two-year sentence for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

According to court documents, Diamond Hamilton, 24, of Tampa, and co-conspirators carried out a scheme to steal funds from credit union member accounts from May 2019 to August 2019. Court documents did not identify Hamilton’s job title.

Nevertheless, her role in the fraud scheme was to access member account information, change their online passwords and add email addresses to their accounts that belonged to one of the co-conspirators, according to court documents. She then withdrew funds from member accounts and transferred that money to Diamond’s Suncoast account or to other co-conspirators.

Although federal prosecutors did not say how many member accounts were affected, they did estimate that losses associated with Hamilton’s criminal conduct amounted to at least $4,500.

Federal prosecutors also did not identify the co-conspirators or how many of them may have been involved.

“The trust of our members is a very serious matter and for this reason, we prosecute and seek restitution for criminal losses,” the Tampa-based Suncoast said in a prepared statement. “We work with law enforcement to build strong and resolute cases and we fully prosecute criminal activity that causes harm to our members. We are committed to provide a safe and sound financial institution and criminals should be aware.”

U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday in Tampa sentenced Hamilton in May after she pleaded guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in February.

Hamilton was ordered to pay restitution of $4,500 to the credit union and serve three years of supervised release following her prison term.