Former CU Employees From 3 States Banned by NCUA
Ex-manager for A+ FCU in Austin steals more than $300,000 from members, including one who was deceased.
Three former employees who worked at credit unions in Texas, Alabama and California were banned from ever participating in the affairs of any federally insured financial institution, the NCUA announced Friday.
Tracy Mikulencak, an ex-manager for the $2.5 billion A+ Federal Credit Union in Austin, Texas embezzled more than $300,000 from at least three members, including one who was deceased, according to federal court filings.
She was sentenced in January to 41 months in federal prison. Earlier this month, a federal judge denied her motion to reduce her sentence.
In exchange for her guilty plea of embezzlement by a credit union employee, federal prosecutors dropped four felony counts of bank fraud against her in October 2023.
She began stealing from the credit union in March 2020 when she entered a $500 and $9,000 teller exchange to increase the balance in the branch vault from $17,108.50 to $26,608.50. Mikulencak later voided the $9,000 teller exchange after a branch audit to hide her embezzlement and kept the $9,000 for herself. Later, she negotiated a counterfeit check for $150,000 drawn on an A+ FCU’s member’s account, created a false statement to hide the withdrawal from the member and kept the money for herself. Mikulencak also withdrew $4,500 from a deceased member’s account, according to federal court documents.
In total, Mikulencak embezzled $302,668, and she was ordered to make restitution in that amount.
Former president/CEO Phillip Brian Topping was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison last year for embezzling $267,000 from the $1.1 million New Pilgrim Federal Credit Union (NPFCU) in Birmingham, Ala.
Topping pilfered $150,400 in cash from the credit union’s ATM located in the lobby of New Pilgrim Baptist Church that housed NPFCU’s office. He also stole $112,800 from the credit union’s teller cash drawer. He covered up his theft by debiting the funds from a share deletion account and then credited the funds to the teller cash drawer.
During Topping’s embezzlement from 2015 to 2021, NPFCU was already in a distressed status with respect to its capitalization. His crime substantially jeopardized the safety and soundness of the credit union since it would have been insolvent had an insurance company not paid the $255,000 employee dishonesty loss claim.
Nevertheless, because of its poor financial condition, NPFCU was forced to merge with the $616 million Hope Credit Union in Jackson, Miss., during last year’s fourth quarter.
Earlier this month, Topping filed a motion in federal court to reduce his sentence, which is pending.
Javier DeJesus Narciso, a former employee for the $782 million Merced School Employees Federal Credit Union in Merced, Calif., was convicted of one count of grand theft by embezzlement during a Merced County California Superior Court hearing in January, according to the NCUA.
He was sentenced to 90 days in jail and two years of probation. Narciso also was ordered to make restitution.
The federal agency, however, did not report how much money Narciso embezzled.