Woman Allegedly Stole More Than $250,000 While Serving as Credit Union CEO
Tina Louise Torres faces 17 felony counts of grand theft and eight felony counts of forgery, police say.
Police investigators say a California woman allegedly stole more than $250,000 while she was the CEO of Limoneira Federal Credit Union.
Police arrested Tina Louise Torres, 54, on Tuesday and charged her with 17 felony counts of grand theft and eight felony counts of forgery, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office financial crimes unit. She was booked on the charges and released after posting bail that had been set at $40,000.
Since at least 2012, Torres had been CEO of Limoneria FCU in Santa Paula. The credit union changed its name to Valley Agricultural Federal Credit Union three years ago and currently manages $5.5 million in assets and serves 647 members, according to NCUA records.
From 2016 to 2019, she allegedly embezzled the credit union’s funds and forged documents to conceal the theft from the board of directors.
Torres also served as the board’s treasurer, according to the credit union’s profile reports filed with the NCUA.
An audit detected suspicious wire transfer schemes, which enabled Torres to siphon credit union funds, said Sgt. Jason Cantrall of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office who investigated the case. She allegedly used the money to pay her personal debts, he said.
The board fired Torres in August 2019.
Torres is scheduled to be arraigned on the 25 felony charges at Ventura Superior Court on June 21, records showed.