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Anne Cruz, a former credit union CEO banned by the NCUA from participating in the affairs of any federally insured financial institution, is expected to appear at a preliminary hearing in a Pennsylvania courtroom in January to face charges of theft, forgery and identity theft.
While Cruz, 33, was CEO of the $2.3 million P.N.G. Northern Federal Credit Union in Vandergrift, (southeast of Pittsburgh), from 2018 to 2021, she allegedly used a check kiting scheme that included recording and disbursing fictitious loans, the NCUA said in its prohibition order. She allegedly used the funds from the fake loans for her personal expenses and concealed the fraud by manipulating credit union records.
Cruz of North Apollo, Pa., was fired on Dec. 31, 2021.
Last month, she was arrested by Parks Township police and was charged with two felony counts of theft, one felony count of forgery and five felony counts of ID theft, according to a Pennsylvania court filing in Leechburg. Her defense attorney was not listed.
Because of P.N.G. Northern's poor management, the NCUA approved the credit union's merger during the summer with the $149 million Omega Federal Credit Union in Wexford, Pa. At the end of the second quarter, P.N.G. posted a net income loss of $295,410, according to NCUA financial performance reports. Cruz was banned by the NCUA in August.
The financial improprieties were uncovered during a routine audit completed in June 2021, according to a criminal complaint cited in a local news report by the Tribune Review. Auditors determined that Cruz allegedly stole nearly $72,000.
The news outlet also reported that the audit found that a check deposited on behalf of a credit union member was cashed by Cruz, indicating a check-kiting scheme. What's more, the former CEO allegedly used $50,000 in credit union funds to make payments on loans taken out in the names of members without their knowledge, and that she was reimbursed more than $22,000 for personal expenses not authorized by P.N.G.
Cruz worked mostly from her home where the credit union's financial files were kept, according to the criminal complaint cited in the news report.
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