NCUA official seal. (Source: NCUA)
Former credit union employees Meaghan Brooks and Gabriel Max Finkelstein were banned from ever participating in the affairs of an insured financial institution, the NCUA said Tuesday.
Brooks, a former mobile branch coordinator for the $2.3 billion HAPO Community Credit Union in Richland, Wash., pleaded innocent to a first-degree theft charge with aggravating circumstances in Benton County Superior Court in August. Her case is pending, according to her attorney Nick Jones in Pasco.
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The former credit union employee neither admitted nor denied the NCUA's findings that she engaged in what the federal agency described as an elaborate ATM fraud.
After suspicious activity at one of the mobile branch ATMs was discovered in January 2022, Brooks' supervisors immediately launched an internal investigation, according to a Richland police report. Although a review of a general ledger indicated that $76,740 should have been in the ATM, the HAPO investigation determined there was only $1,300 in the machine.
Although Brooks deposited funds into the ATM, she allegedly did not record the transactions into a transaction journal. Brooks allegedly stole the funds from the ATM while she was alone, according to the police report.
Gabriel Max Finklestein, a former member services representative at the $4.4 billion Genisys Credit Union in Auburn Hills, Mich., allegedly stole approximately $46,000 from members' accounts without their knowledge or authorization. He allegedly withdrew the funds from the branch cash dispenser and used the money for his personal benefit.
Finklestein did not admit or deny any wrongdoing, the NCUA said.
The NCUA administrative order did not stipulate whether Finkelstein made restitution to Genisys or whether the alleged theft was reported to law enforcement.
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Peter Strozniak
Credit Union Times reporter covering credit union operations, fraud, M&As, leagues, business continuity, and breaking news.
