A former credit union lending manager pleaded guilty in U.S.District Court in Hartford, Conn., Thursday for embezzling morethan $840,000 from the $220 million 360 Federal CreditUnion in Windsor Locks.

Pamela Mallory, 42, of Enfeld, opened five different HELOCs inthe name of a credit union member from 2009 to 2016. She increasedthe credit limit of those HELOCs on at least 15 occasions withoutknowledge or consent, according to federal prosecutors.

Initially, Mallory perpetrated the scheme by opening subsequentHELOCs to pay off earlier, smaller HELOCs. Later, rather thanopening new HELOCs, she increased the credit limits on two of thefraudulent HELOCs to support her spending.

To evade detection, Mallory made minimum, interest-only paymentson the HELOCs from her checking account, federal prosecutorssaid.

The credit union discovered the scheme in January 2016.

The credit union member's property, which is worth less than$150,000, supported two HELOCs, each with credit limits of$417,000, that Mallory had fully drawn down.

In total, Mallory stole approximately $840,378 from the creditunion and used the funds to pay her own creditors, according toprosecutors.

“We are disappointed and saddened by this breach oftrust, but want to assure our members and the community thatthe 360 Federal Credit Union remains financially strong andexpects to be able to recover all or most of the loss throughinsurance and restitution,” 360 FCU President/CEO Robert L. Aresti said in a preparedstatement. “The theft was an extremely complex andsophisticated scheme, carried out by an employee in a positionof great responsibility and trust. Nevertheless, the systemworked by identifying an irregularity and triggering aninvestigation.”

“Everything we now know confirms that this was an isolated eventby one person,” he said. “Most important, we have put in placeadditional safeguards to prevent something like this from happeningagain.”

Mallory pleaded guilty to one count of embezzlement by a creditunion employee, a charge that carries a maximum term ofimprisonment of 30 years.

Mallory is scheduled to be sentenced on August 17. She wasreleased on a $100,000 bond, federal prosecutors said.