Former teller Michael Ruksenas, scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court inCleveland on Dec. 2 to face a $481,502 conspiracy embezzlementcharge, could be the first of more individuals fingered in thefraud that killed off the $23.6 million Taupa Lithuanian CreditUnion in July.

Documents filed in U.S. District Court reveal more details abouthow Ruksenas conspired with the former president/CEO of Taupa Lithuanian CU, Alex Spirikaitis,and “others known or unknown,” as federal prosecutors described incourt papers.

Steven Dettelbach, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District ofOhio, has said that Ruksensas is “part of a group that tookadvantage of the trust of hundreds of people for their own personalgain.”

Ruksenas and Spirikaitis were stealing funds from the creditunion for years and up to just one month before state and federalregulators shuttered the credit union, federal prosecutorsallege.

In 2007 and 2008 Spirikaitis fraudulently transferred about$200,000 into Ruksenas' Taupa accounts. Starting in early 2009,Spirikaitis transferred about $4,000 twice a month in to Ruksenasaccounts, according to court documents.

What's more, Ruksenas requested Spirikaitis increase the amountof monthly transfers from $8,000 to $9,000 a month, so “Ruksenascould show his family members that he was a successful employee,”court records show.

While Spirikaitis obliged Ruksenas' request for that $1,000 amonth increase, Ruksenas told others that the money deposited intohis Taupa accounts were legitimate payments from his employer.

Court documents also show Spirkaitis transferred $9,000 toRuksensas' account on June 13, exactly one month before stateauthorities and the NCUA moved in to liquidate the Clevelandcredit union on July 13.

Because Ruksenas earlier waived his right to prosecution byindictment and consented to prosecution by an information documentthat details conspiracy embezzlement, it implies that he iscooperating with federal authorities, said FBI Special Agent VickiD. Anderson.

What's more, Spirikaitis, who has been charged with making falsestatements about the credit union's finances and is in federalcustody, appears to be cooperating with federal prosecutors aswell.

The federal grand jury had a Nov. 20 deadline to return anindictment against Spirikaitis. But at the request of Spirkaitislawyer, Darin Thompson of Cleveland, the deadline was extended toDec. 20 to give them more time to “fully explore pre-indictmentnegotiations with the government.”

Court documents have revealed that more than $10 million mayhave been embezzled from the credit union, which would make it oneof the largest fraud cases in credit union history.

When Ruksenas started working as a teller at Taupa Lithuanian in1999, Spirikaitis routinely reviewed the daily share draft report.He circled the names of certain members listed on the report withNSF checks and instructed Ruksenas to pay the NSF checksSpirikaitis had circled, federal prosecutors allege.

After Ruksenas learned Spirikaitis honored overdrafts fromcertain accounts, Ruksenas began withdrawing funds from his twoaccounts even though he didn't maintain sufficient balances tocover the withdrawals. Spirikaitis then transferred fundsfrom Taupa directly into Ruksenas' personal accounts to coverRuksenas' overdrafts, federal prosecutors said.

Next Page: Home Health Aide

Court documents also show Ruksenas worked as a home health aidefor one of Spirikaitis' relatives from 2007 through 2009. Duringthat time, Spirikaitis allegedly used credit union funds to buyRuksenas a Jeep Cherokee.

A final forfeiture order also was approved by a federal courtjudge earlier this month that allows the federal government to sella million-dollar home built by Spirikaitis. Funds from the saleof the home will be distributed to the NCUA, among others.

Federal authorities suspect the house was built with moneyembezzled from the credit union as Spirikaitis was earning only$50,000 annually, according to court papers.

An FBI investigation found that Spirikaitis received a December2011 bank statement that showed a total of $559,468 in Taupa'saccounts at the $4.5 billion Corporate One Federal Credit Union inColumbus, Ohio.

However, Spirikaitis reported on the credit union's December2011 NCUA Call Report $16,165,288 in assets at the corporate creditunion. The affidavit also revealed Spirikaitis allegedly alteredand modified Corporate One FCU bank account statements forexaminers.

“He printed out numbers he wanted to report to auditors and (to)NCUA and taped them over the real numbers from the true CorporateOne bank account statement,” the affidavit stated. “Spirikaitisthen photocopied the altered documents resulting in a document thatmimicked the appearance of a statement coming directly fromCorporate One.”

Court documents also revealed that NCUA authorities discovered10,000 rounds of ammunition and multiple semi-automatic weaponsin the credit union's storage room in July when they seized theinstitution.

What remains a mystery is why Spirikaitis kept these weapons andammunition in the credit union. Federal prosecutors and the FBIdeclined to comment on Spirikaitis' intent.