Former North Carolina CU Employee Gets 3 Years’ Probation for Member Info Theft
Federal judge also orders Davia Lockley to pay nearly $70,000 in restitution for her role in a criminal scheme.
Davia Delores Lockley, a former teller at the $49.6 billion SECU in Raleigh, N.C., was sentenced to 36 months of probation for her role in a scheme to steal members’ account information.
During a court hearing last week, U.S. District Court Judge Richard E. Myers II in Wilmington also ordered Lockley to pay restitution of $68,500 in connection to her crime and a special assessment of $100.
Last December, the former credit union employee pleaded guilty to one felony count of “unlawful transfer, possession, and use of a means of identification,” according to court documents.
Lockley participated in a scheme to defraud the credit union and its members while working at a SECU branch in Raleigh.
Federal prosecutors said Lockley was recruited by other conspirators to identify member accounts that contained significant funds and lacked a member photo on file. She then accessed members’ information on the credit union’s IT systems, including account numbers and personal identifiers, and sent that information to conspirators using cell phones or through handwritten notes.
Federal prosecutors did not identify the other conspirators.
Between January 2021 and June 2021, Lockley compromised the accounts of at least six SECU members, federal prosecutors said.
In their prepared statement, prosecutors also said runners were recruited to enter various banks and credit unions to withdraw funds from victims’ accounts. To facilitate the fraudulent withdrawals, other conspirators obtained counterfeit drivers’ licenses using the victims’ personal identifiers and the runners’ photographs. The proceeds of the fraud were split among those involved in the scheme.
Although Lockley’s plea deal has been listed on the federal docket, it is not available for public and media inspection.
In a prepared statement, federal prosecutors indicated this fraudulent scheme involved other employees from other credit unions and banks, but because an investigation is ongoing, the names of the other employees and institutions involved are not public information yet.
Judge Myers also ordered Lockley not to work at any other financial institution and seek approval from the probation office for employment that might provide her with access to personally identifiable information.