Feds Allege Former Operations Manager Embezzled From a Tennessee CU

Federal prosecutors alleged Thursday that Monica Jackson, a former operations director for Lifeway Credit Union, embezzled more than $242,000 from the Nashville, Tenn.-based financial cooperative.

Jackson, 42, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., has been charged with one count of embezzlement by a credit union director, according to an information document filed by prosecutors in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. She has not yet been arraigned on the charge or entered a plea. Jackson did not respond to CU Times‘ request for comment and her lawyer declined to make a statement.

Lifeway’s Douglas P. Clinton said Jackson resigned without notice in February 2021, which led to an internal investigation that exposed the misappropriation of loan proceeds and other alleged illegal acts.

“The theft did not negatively impact credit union members, and new controls have been put into place to prevent a similar occurrence in the future,” Clinton said in a prepared statement on Friday. “The credit union notified law enforcement authorities and state and federal regulators as soon as the breach was discovered, immediately instituted an internal audit and investigation, engaged an independent, outside forensic auditor and fully cooperated with the FBI investigation into the matter.”

Clinton added: “Lifeway Credit Union apologizes to our members and prays that Mrs. Jackson is treated with equal and fair justice.”

Serving 2,500 members, Clinton noted that Lifeway Credit Union is a separate legal and business entity of Lifeway Christian Resources. That organization is the 130-year-old publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Between October 2016 and February 2021, Jackson embezzled approximately $242,156 from the credit union using a variety of methods, including by stealing cash out of the vault, according to court documents.

Jackson concealed these cash thefts from the vault, totaling more than $47,000, by placing small bills, such as one-dollar bills, in “bands” of larger bills, such as $20 or $50 bills, to make it appear as though each “band” of larger bills was full, federal prosecutors alleged.

She also opened lines of credit in the names of family members and then transfered $167,312 to accounts she controlled, federal prosecutors said in court documents. What’s more, the former executive allegedly made fraudulent transfers totaling $27,435 to herself from the account of a deceased credit union member, according to court documents.

Federal prosecutors noted that Jackson, who was part of the credit union’s management team and oversaw lending decisions, leveraged her administrative authority to lock access to the accounts she was using to commit the alleged fraud so that other bank employees could not see those accounts.