Sharon Broadway will be sentenced in January after pleading guilty Friday in Monroe County Circuit Court in Monroe, Mich. to embezzling $2.1 million from United Catholic Credit Union in Temperance, Mich.
Chartered in 1961, the $303,261credit union served more than 200 members belonging to local Catholic parishes before it was shuttered earlier this year.
Broadway, 61, of nearby Toledo, Ohio, had been stealing from the credit union since 1985, according to Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette.
As manager, secretary, board member and sole employee, Broadway was able to conceal her crimes for years using a complex money laundering scheme involving forged checks and multiple aliases, according to Michigan authorities. Broadway used the embezzled funds for her personal use.
Broadway’s fraud was uncovered after a routine examination by the Michigan Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation revealed that a substantial amount of certificates of deposit went un-recorded in the credit union's financial records, authorities said.
OFIR closed UCCU in August and appointed NCUA as the receiver. Earlier this week, OFIR issued a prohibition order that prevents Broadway from working in the Michigan chartered credit union industry in the future.
Broadway pleaded guilty to one count of financial institution embezzlement, a 20-year felony, and one count of racketeering, also a 20-year felony. Her sentence hearing is scheduled for Jan. 17 before Monroe County Circuit Judge Michael A. Weipert.
