Former CU Branch Manager Gets No Prison Time for Bank Fraud
Federal judge orders Tracy Thibodeau to pay more than $136,000 in restitution to an insurance company and $5,000 to the credit union.
A former branch manager won’t spend any time behind bars for stealing more than $130,000 from a Vermont credit union.
Tracy Thibodeau, 47, of Windsor, who worked at the $30.2 million Vermont VA Federal Credit Union (VVAFCU) was sentenced last week to time served following her guilty plea to a felony charge of credit union fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Burlington said in a prepared statement.
U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III ordered that Thibodeau serve three years of supervised release with a special condition, which was not specified in court filings. Judge Sessions also ordered the former credit union branch manager to pay $136,936 to TruStage and $5,000 in restitution to the credit union that was merged last year.
Thibodeau joined the credit union in 2015 and was promoted to branch manager in 2016. Starting in April 2019 through February 2021, she used VVAFCU’s credit card processing software, and without authorization, opened and issued a credit card in her name.
She manipulated the processing software to grant herself privileges such as removing dollar limits on her credit card balances, excusing her from late fees and interest penalties on overdue balances, and eliminating requirements that she make minimum payment toward any unpaid balances, according to the indictment. Thibodeau also manipulated the credit union’s internal cardholder journal reports to conceal the fraud from her supervisors.
While she usually made small monthly payments toward her outstanding credit card balance, they totaled only several thousand dollars.
VVAFCU detected the fraud and fired her in April 2022.
The credit union was merged into the $391 million 802 Credit Union in Barre, Vt., last year.
At the end of the second quarter of 2023, VVAFCU recorded a loss of $661,106, and a net worth of 5.20%, according to NCUA financial performance reports. In the first quarter, the credit union posted a gain of $23,756 and a net worth of 7.01%.
At the end of 2022, VVAFCU showed a loss of $229,894 and a net worth of 6.90%, according to NCUA financial performance reports.