A third person was charged Monday with embezzling $2.5 millionin a massive fraud case that led to the collapse of the Taupa Lithuanian Credit Union in Cleveland in July.

Federal prosecutors charged John Struna, 51, of the Clevelandsuburb of Concord Township, with one count of conspiracy to committheft or embezzlement from a credit union.

Struna, who had personal and business accounts at TaupaLithuanian, conspired with former CEO Alex Spirikaitis to overdrawStruna's accounts by $2.5 million, according to the federalprosecutors.

Spirikaitis made approximately 38 false and fraudulent wiretransfers into Struna's accounts between 2007 and 2013, federalprosecutors charge.

For example, Struna requested and received $112,105 fromSpirikaitis in 2011 to buy a Fort Myers, Fla. condominium. In2012, he requested and received approximately $100,000 for aninvestment opportunity, federal prosecutors allege.

What's more, Struna never submitted any credit applications orloan documents to secure these loans and repaid the cooperativeonly $15,000.

Struna called Spirikaitis about twice a month and requested Spirikaitis'approval to withdraw additional funds, said federal prosecutors.The former CEO made multiple transfers from Taupa's internalaccounts to cover the overdrafts.

“John Struna willfully overdrew his credit union accounts to thetune of $2.5 million through his relationship with a corruptexecutive at the credit union,” said Stephen D. Anthony specialagent in charge of the FBI office in Cleveland. “The FBI willcontinue efforts to make sure all the individuals responsible forthe collapse of the Taupa Lithuanian Credit Union are heldaccountable.”

Federal prosecutors said in December that they expected tocharge six other people after former teller Michael Ruksenas pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court inCleveland to conspiring to embezzle more than $481,000 from thefailed credit union.

As part of a plea deal, Ruksenas agreed to cooperate with andtestify for federal prosecutors.

About $10 million to $16 million may have been embezzled fromthe Cleveland cooperative, which would make it one of the largestcredit union fraud cases ever.

Ruksenas, 33, conspired with Spirikaitis and “others known orunknown,” according to court documents.

Spirikaitis, who was charged with making false statements aboutthe credit union's finances in October and is in federal custody,appears to be cooperating with federal prosecutors as well.

Ruksenas, who was the second person to be charged anembezzlement charge, was conspiring with Spirikaitis to stealcredit union money for years and up to just one month before stateand federal regulators shuttered the credit union, according tocourt documents.

When Ruksenas started working as a teller at Taupa Lithuanian CUin 1999, Spirikaitis routinely reviewed the daily share draftreport. He circled the names of certain members listed on thereport with NSF checks and instructed Ruksenas to pay the NSFchecks Spirikaitis had circled, court documents show.

After Ruksenas learned Spirikaitis honored overdrafts from certain accounts, Ruksenasbegan withdrawing funds from his two accounts even though he didn'tmaintain sufficient balances to cover the withdrawals. Spirikaitisthen transferred funds from Taupa directly into Ruksenas' personalaccounts to cover the overdrafts, according to court documents.

The NCUA and the Ohio Department of Commerce took possession ofTaupa Lithuanian CU last July and placed it into receivershipdue to its insolvency. Taupa had about 1,150 members and assets ofapproximately $24 million, according to court records.