Former CU Executive Sentenced to 27 Months in Prison for Embezzlement

A federal judge sentenced a former Tennessee credit union executive to 27 months in prison on Friday for embezzlement, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. also ordered Monica Jackson, ex-operations and marketing director at Lifeway Credit Union, to pay $242,156 in restitution and to complete three years of supervised release following her prison term. Jackson of Murfreesboro pleaded guilty to one felony count of embezzlement in December 2021.

Lifeway changed its name to Koin Credit Union ($44.2 million in assets, 2,004 members) in October, and moved its central office from Nashville to Brentwood.

In a letter to Judge Crenshaw, Jackson wrote:

“What’s hard for me to accept, even now, is how to reconcile that there are two parts of me – how I could have done something that is so against my values and beliefs. I loved this credit union and devoted so much of my life to it because I truly cared about the members and the team. I was so proud of the work we did and the help we provided people. Then there’s the other Monica, the one who for 9 years took money and committed fraud and hid this from everyone. Not one single person on earth had any idea this life I was living. I deceived my husband, my family, and my friends. I caused so much harm through my actions.”

While Jackson also wrote that she is deeply sorry for her theft and is committed to paying the money back, she is most ashamed of the hurt she caused individuals at the credit union and her family who trusted her, believed in her and supported her.

“I want justice for my crimes against the credit union. I know I face punishment and hardship – and that these are fair consequences,” Jackson wrote. “I just am asking, begging, that the consequences have the least amount of damage to my family who are also victims in this.”

Jackson, who joined the credit union in 2006, began her theft in October 2016, which continued until Feb. 1, 2021.

The former executive admitted she stole $47,409 in cash from the credit union’s vault. She concealed the crime by placing small bills, such as $1 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, according to court documents.

Jackson also made unauthorized account transfers to herself out of an account in the name of J.A. and S.B.

J.A. was a former Lifeway employee who passed away in 2016. S.B. was J.A.’s son. Following the employee’s death, however, J.A.’s account continued to receive pension payments.

Prosecutors said between May 2018 and December 2020, Jackson transferred $27,435 to herself without S.B.’s knowledge or permission. She concealed the embezzlement by inputting false and misleading information about the transfers, by shifting the money to accounts in the names of her family members, or by withdrawing cash, which did not reflect where the funds were going. In addition, Jackson restricted access to J.A.’s account so that other Lifeway employees could not access those accounts, court documents showed.

Jackson also admitted that she opened lines of credit in some of her family members’ names and increased the maximum lines of credit on those accounts without obtaining the necessary authorization and approvals from the credit union. Jackson then took advances against those lines of credit and transferred $167,312 to her personal account or to an account she controlled.

To cover up the embezzlement, Jackson used the master administration access code to “lock” one of the accounts she was using so that other credit union employees could not see it, according to court documents.

Jackson is scheduled to begin her prison sentence on April 28.