Anthony Raguz, a former credit union CEO who played a centralrole in one of the largest fraud cases in U.S. credit unionhistory, was sentenced Monday to 14 years in federal prison andordered to pay $71.5 million in restitution by U.S. District CourtJudge Christopher A. Boyko in Cleveland.

Raguz pleaded guilty in September 2011 to six criminal counts,including bank fraud, money laundering and bank bribery that led tothe collapse of St. Paul Croatian Federal Credit Union in Eastlake,Ohio, in 2010.

He admitted to approving more than 1,000 fraudulent loanstotaling $70 million to over 300 account holders at St. PaulCroatian FCU from 2000 to 2010. Raguz said he issued loans withoutrequiring collateral and knew the borrowers had few assets, noemployment history and often used fictitious names. He alsoaccepted bribes totaling $1 million to approve loans, according tothe original indictment.