The travel spending practices by board members of a New Jersey credit union came under a harsh TV spotlight Monday following the broadcast of a report by ABC's New York affiliate in connection with a whistleblower's suit.
The segment, narrated by Sarah Wallace, a well-known reporter for the WABC station, focused on allegedly questionable overseas trips paid for by the $104 million First Jersey CU of Wayne. The report stemmed from a lawsuit brought last December by a former CEO in a New Jersey state court.
The acting CEO of the CU, Debbie Gordon, vice president of operations, declined comment on the litigation calling it "a private court matter between our former CEO and the board." State regulators also declined to comment but were aware of the lawsuit filed by Joanne Lazarra, the ex-president featured on the broadcast.
In the segment, highlighted by a filmed confrontation between Wallace and board members at First Jersey's annual meeting May 1, the ex-CEO speaks out on board travel expenses accusing the chairman, Edward Sinning, and other directors of abusing their authority by taking $12,000 in CU cruises with their wives to Scandinavia and Alaska in 2007.
The directors targeted in the lawsuit and in the broadcast have reportedly returned the money. The civil complaint was filed in Passaic County Superior Court in Paterson. Industry leaders dismissed the TV broadcast and the focus on CU travel as overly sensational "considering the amount spent by the banks in bailout funds."
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