Aubry and Mitchell were released after posting bond.

The alleged crimes that occurred from 2015 to 2018 were detected during a February 2019 HBCU board meeting that reviewed several loan packages approved by Aubry, according to a felony complaint from the Orange County District Attorney's office.

Aubry allegedly used forged signatures and a forged appraisal to approve a HELOC loan totaling $265,000 for Mitchell. The loan was associated with a residence in Corona, Calif.

A legitimate appraisal of the home was for $354,500 but was allegedly altered to $534,500 in order to approve a larger HELOC amount, prosecutors said. After the residence was sold in June 2018 with a loan amount outstanding, HBCU should have received a payoff from the sale. But Aubry and Mitchell allegedly forged a document to show the loan had been paid off prior to the sale, according to prosecutors.

What's more, other credit union documents reviewed by the board included two auto loans that were taken out by Aubry and Mitchell who allegedly used phony documents to get the loans approved. One of the vehicles didn't exist and the other one was owned by someone else, according to prosecutors. The funds from these loans were deposited into Mitchell's account who moved some of the money "back and forth" between his accounts and Aubry's accounts, prosecutors said.

A forensic accountant for the Orange County DA's office initially estimated that the criminal allegations included a total of $437,000 of the credit union's funds, but that total also involved alleged money laundered between accounts, not additional funds that were stolen.

Attorneys for Aubry and Mitchell did not respond to CU Times' request for comment.

Angela K. Clitherow, president/CEO of HBCU, declined to comment. She was not the CEO when the board discovered the alleged crimes in 2019.