The Service Center for Credit Unions Inc., which served six credit unions that were shuttered last week due to insolvency, is expected to close its doors, according to a credit union executive and a center employee.

Yolanda Greene, president/CEO for the $1.3 million Paper Converters Local 286/1034 Federal Credit Union in Philadelphia, said she was told that the service center is expected to close perhaps within 48 hours.

“It’s unfortunate, but that’s the only reaction that I have to what is going on,” she said when contacted by CU Times Monday. She declined further comment.

The service center in Bensalem Township, Pa., provided services to Paper Converters and 15 other credit unions, including six small cooperatives in the Philadelphia area that were suddenly closed because of insolvency, according to an April 5 statement from the NCUA.

Joni Brown was listed as the president/CEO of all six of the shuttered credit unions. She is also the owner of the service center, which is a private business.

On April 4, a search warrant was authorized by a federal court in Philadelphia for what is believed to be Joni Brown’s house in Willow Grove, Pa. The search warrant document, obtained by the CU Times, listed Joan Brown as the owner of the house.

FBI agents executed the search warrant at Brown’s house on the morning of April 5 and seized three thumb storage drives, a desktop computer and miscellaneous financial, banking and accounting documents. The search warrant did not specify the total amount of documents that were taken by the FBI.

CU Times called the service center Monday to request comments from Brown about the search warrant. A person who identified himself as Jim and as an employee of the service center said Brown was not there. He declined to provide his last name.

However, Jim said he and four other employees expected the center to close, even though they have not been officially told anything yet by the center’s owner.

“That’s what we are expecting. We’re waiting for the other shoe to drop here,” he said. “But nobody has told us, so we continue to report to the office. We all feel that we have responsibility to the clients that remain.”

He also said NCUA examiners had been at the service center for weeks. The employee declined any further comment and referred calls to the NCUA.

Ben C. Hardaway, an NCUA communications specialist, said because the service center is a private business, the federal agency has no authority over it. He declined to comment on whether the federal agency is aware that the center is expected to close.

Hardaway also declined to confirm whether NCUA examiners had been at the service center for weeks because of supervisory matters.

The closed credit unions were Cardozo Lodge Federal Credit Union, Electrical Inspectors Federal Credit Union, O P S EMP Federal Credit Union, Servco Federal Credit Union and Triangle Interests % Service Center Federal Credit Union of Bensalem, Pa., and Chester Upland School Employees Federal Credit Union of Chester, Pa.

CU Times called the number for Rector FCU, but a recording said the number was no longer in service.

The credit unions that will be affected if the service center closes are the $119,592 Wesley AME Zion Federal Credit Union, the $3.3 million Asbestos Workers Local 14 Federal Credit Union, the $402,055 Bright Hope Federal Credit Union, the $845,199 ECAI Federal Credit Union, the $840,612 Mount Carmel Baptist Federal Credit Union, the $11.8 million Northwood Federal Credit Union, and the $1.4 million Paper Converters Local 286/1034 Federal Credit Union. All of these cooperatives are based in Philadelphia.

The $62 million Eagle Once Federal Credit Union in Claymont, Del., and the $73,549 First African Baptist Church Federal Credit Union in Sharon Hill, Pa., also receive services from the service center.

Phone messages left with several CEOs of these credit unions were not returned Monday and two other CEOs declined comment.

CU Times called Brown’s home phone number Monday seeking comment. In addition to contacting the service center, CU Times sent Brown two emails and a message via her LinkedIn account requesting her comments. She did not respond to the email or voicemails.

Instant Insights /

Center Tied to Six Shuttered Credit Unions May Close

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