On July 5, 2014, the board of directors of the $42 million Toledo Metro Federal Credit Union told their former president/CEO Charles Robert Poore they wanted to ask him about numerous suspicious transactions on his corporate credit card. The next day, Poore resigned and was never seen again at the Toledo, Ohio-based cooperative.
Federal agents, however, found Poore in Pittsburgh and arrested him Oct. 20 on a felony charge of thrift and credit union theft, embezzlement or misapplication. After a hearing in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh, Poore was released on a $25,000 bond.
A TMFCU internal investigation revealed from December 2011 through May 2014, the credit union paid a total of $269,593 to Visa for transactions Poore made on his corporate credit card. Most of those transactions primarily paid for office equipment and supplies, according to a federal affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh.
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However, TMFCU's investigation could only account for approximately 15% of the items purchased and was unable to account for $233,933 in transactions made by Poore.
According to the affidavit, Poore purchased items through his wife's Amazon account from a third-party vendor and then sold the items to TMFCU using his corporate credit card at a significantly inflated cost and profit.
"For legal reasons, the credit union is unable to discuss specifics about the incident until the investigation and trial have been completed," current TMFCU President/CEO Daniel Zimolzak said. "Insurance has reimbursed the credit union for virtually the full amount of the loss. The credit union has implemented new procedures to insure similar frauds will not occur again."
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Peter Strozniak
Credit Union Times reporter covering credit union operations, fraud, M&As, leagues, business continuity, and breaking news.
