NCUA Issues Prohibition Orders for 3 Individuals
A former credit union CEO, supervisory committee chair and employee have been banned by the NCUA.
On Friday, the NCUA ordered notices for three former credit union individuals, prohibiting them from ever participating in any affairs with federally insured depository institutions.
According to the NCUA, Tara Kewalis, former president/CEO of the $39 million Skyline Financial Federal Credit Union (SFFCU) in Waterbury, Conn., led SFFCU from September 2016 until her termination on March 17, 2012. In December 2022, Kewalis pled guilty to embezzling more than $250,000.
She began the scheme by diverting credit union funds to various accounts held in her name, including her Christmas Club and Vacation Club accounts, using the internal accounting system to charge those stolen funds against Skyline Financial’s group health insurance and other employee benefits, according to a plea agreement Kewalis signed with prosecutors. Dividing the stolen funds among a number of accounts helped to camouflage her theft, the plea agreement noted.
Kewalis also booked the charges of stolen funds against the credit union’s general ledger as various expenses that she knew were for Skyline Financial’s operations such as ATM settlements, insurance payments and the purchase of COVID-19 cleaning supplies, court documents showed.
According to the NCUA, her “conduct demonstrated personal dishonesty and/or unfitness to participate in conducting the affairs of a credit union.”
The NCUA also banned Shelton Jordan, Sr., who was a supervisory committee chairman at the $2 million Portsmouth Schools Federal Credit Union in Portsmouth, Va. Jordan was responsible for the credit union’s payroll in April 2021. Later that September, it was discovered Jordan was manipulating the payroll system by making payments to their own personal account in the amounts exceeding $95,000, resulting in significant losses for the credit union, according to NCUA’s findings.
NCUA’s final prohibition order announced Friday concerned Randi Marie Fisher, a former employee of the Wilkes Barre, Penn.-based Vantage Trust Federal Credit Union ($56 million in assets).
According to the NCUA, Fisher “removed $2,050 from her teller drawer and misappropriated the funds for her own purposes.” The NCUA did not state when Fisher allegedly removed the money, when it was discovered or when she was employed by Vantage Trust.