Former CU Teller & Member Charged in Theft From Elderly Member's Account

A former credit union teller and a member of the $18.7 million Waco Federal Credit Union in Texas allegedly stole more than $35,000 from an elderly member’s account, according to a police report and arrest warrant.

The former Waco FCU teller, Jessi Sluder, 25, and member Corleone Coleman, 20, were arrested earlier this month and were each charged with one felony count of financial abuse of an elderly individual, Waco police documents showed.

Waco FCU President/CEO Tony Head said this incident was a shock and never happened before.

“We were able to protect her [the elderly victim] and got all of her money back,” Head said. “Everything has been taken care of.”

In July, while she was reviewing her bank statement, the elderly credit union member noticed funds had been removed from her account. She then reported this alleged theft to the Waco Police Department and the credit union.

When police contacted the credit union, Waco FCU had already launched an internal investigation and determined $35,600 had been allegedly transferred from the elderly member’s account to Coleman’s account. The credit union also found that the funds had been allegedly withdrawn during drive-thru and ATM transactions with Colman’s debit card, according to police documents.

Waco FCU captured Sluder’s alleged suspicious activity on security camera footage.

While being interviewed by a Waco police detective, Sluder admitted to giving out the elderly member’s account information and getting paid for it. She also admitted that she was involved in taking the elderly member’s money, the police documents showed.

“She even stated she felt so bad she deposited $1,190 back into (the elderly member’s account),” the police report said.

When the detective interviewed Coleman, he said “there was a bad employee at Waco Federal Credit Union.” He also said he would talk about the incident later, but never showed up to continue the police interview the next day.