An Ohio bookkeeper was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison Tuesday for embezzling nearly $1 million from the failed Taupa Lithuanian Credit Union.

U.S. District Court Judge James Gwin also ordered Vytas Apanavicius of Mentor, an eastern Cleveland suburb, to pay $962,689 in restitution and three years of supervised release after serving his prison term.

Apanavicius pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit theft or embezzlement in February.

The former bookkeeper, along with five others, including Alex Spirikaitis, Taupa Lithuanian's former president/CEO, conspired to defraud the credit union from 2007 through 2013.

The fraud case caused a $33.5 million loss to NCUSIF, according to the NCUA Office of Inspector General's material loss report.

The NCUA and the Ohio Department of Commerce took possession of the $23.6 million Taupa Lithuanian in July 2013 and placed it into receivership because of insolvency. The Cleveland cooperative served about 1,150 members.

Apanavicius owned VPA Accounting Inc., through which he provided bookkeeping and accounting services from 1995 through 2013. These services included recording month-end journal entries for general ledger accounts, paying and recording monthly expenses and compiling monthly balance sheets and income statements, federal prosecutors said.

Starting in 2001, Apanavicius controlled six accounts at Taupa Lithuanian. In his role as an external bookkeeper, he became aware that former Spirikaitis routinely deposited and transferred the credit union's funds into member accounts to cover multiple overdrafts.

Apanavicius then withdrew funds from his accounts and did not maintain sufficient balances to cover withdrawals. Spirikaitis deposited and transferred Taupa Lithuanian funds into Apanavicius' accounts to cover his overdrafts and withdrawals, according to federal prosecutors.

Spirikaitis made approximately 72 fraudulent deposits and transfers into Apanavicius' accounts. He also provided Apanavicius with $25,000 from Taupa Lithuanian accounts to buy a new Jeep Cherokee, according to court documents.

Apanavicius was the second person to be sentenced in the Taupa Lithuanian fraud scheme. In February, former teller Michael Ruksenas was sentenced to 17 months in federal prison for stealing more than $481,000.

Spirikaitis, who embezzled $4.2 million from the Cleveland cooperative, is set to be sentenced Dec. 1.

Last week, John Struna, an Ohio business owner, pleaded guilty in his role for embezzling $2.3 million from Taupa Lithuanian. He will forfeit the Sunny Street Café, a restaurant in Concord Township, Ohio, a condominium in Florida and a 2014 Mazda because they were purchased with money he stole from the credit union, according to court documents.

In August, Gary Chaney of Streetsboro, and Patrick Bruckman of Chester Township, both Cleveland suburbs, were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit theft or embezzlement from a credit union. They maintained personal accounts at the cooperative, as well as a corporate account for Network Systems Engineering a computer consulting firm they owned, according to the court documents.

Federal prosecutors charged Chaney and Bruckman with embezzling nearly $1.9 million from Taupa Lithuanian. In October, both pleaded guilty to committing theft or embezzlement, according to court documents.

Instant Insights /

Taupa Lithuanian Case Sends Another to Prison

Related Stories

Recommended For You