Cleveland businessman A. Eddy Zai has been indicted on 37 counts related to unpaid loans from the now-defunct St. Paul Croatian FCU and two other financial institutions.
In the indictment, which was unsealed Wednesday, the charges against Zai include two counts of conspiracy, two counts of bank fraud, one count of bank bribery, 11 counts of money laundering, 17 counts of making false statements to a bank and one count of making false statements to law enforcement.
The charges relate to more than $16 million in unpaid loans.
The indictment alleges that when the credit union made loans to Zai’s businesses at a level that might cause concern among the credit union’s board, the names of Zai’s family members were provided to the credit union so additional loans could be made “without detection.’’
In addition, the indictment alleges that Zai made “numerous cash payments” in the form of $100 bills concealed in envelopes to the credit union’s former chief operating officer Anthony Raguz, who has pleaded guilty to bank fraud.
Last week, Koljo Nikolovski, a pivotal figure in the case, pleaded guilty to 18 counts of bribery, bank fraud and money laundering. The credit union’s manager, Anthony Raguz, was among nine other people indicted in the case.
The NCUA conserved and then closed the credit union, located in the Cleveland suburb of Eastlake, Ohio, in 2010. The failure cost the NCUSIF $170 million.
The full indictment can be read online.
