NCUA headquarters, Washington, D.C. Credit/NCUA
The NCUA on Tuesday permanently barred five former credit union employees from working at any federally insured financial institution.
Three of the individuals, including a CEO and two tellers, worked at the $6 million Modern Employees Federal Credit Union (MEFCU) in Owensboro, Ky., where they collectively stole nearly $60,000, according to the NCUA.
From February 1998 to July 2022, Tammy Kirkpatrick held the positions of teller and loan officer, and served as CEO from at least June 2012, according to the credit union’s profile reports filed with the NCUA.
Starting in May 2017 and through June 2022, she allegedly altered credit union records to hide her removal of cash from teller drawers and the credit union vault. The NCUA reported she stole more than $9,500.
Jessica Koch began working as a teller at MEFCU in June 2018. By October and continuing through June 2022, she allegedly recorded incorrect totals of mutilated funds and coins in her teller drawer to conceal her theft of more than $11,000, according to the NCUA.
Donna Bland, who also was employed as a teller at MEFCU from at least February 2009 through July 2022, allegedly used similar tactics between May 2012 and June 2022 to hide her theft of more than $39,000, the NCUA said.
From the time Jennifer Head became president/CEO of the $7.7 million MSD Federal Credit Union in Louisville, Ky., in January 2000 and through her tenure that lasted until June 2022, she allegedly stole from member accounts, according to the NCUA.
She used her access to a member’s account to make unauthorized withdrawals and directed the funds to her own accounts for her personal benefit. She also directed a member’s share statements to a different address from the member’s address, and she destroyed the member’s records to hide her unauthorized withdrawals, the NCUA alleged.
Although the federal agency did not disclose the total losses caused by Head, NCUA financial performance reports showed more than $70,000 in total losses were recorded during her tenure. The agency also did not state whether she had agreed to restitution.
Head entered pretrial diversion in U.S. District Court in Kentucky after being charged with one count of theft by unlawful taking. Her court records were not publicly available.
LaMarcus Tinker, a former employee at the $381 million American United Federal Credit Union in West Jordan, Utah, was convicted and sentenced to three counts of unlawful acquisition, possession or transfer of a financial transaction card in Salt Lake City.
The NCUA did not report whether the credit union suffered any financial losses related to Tinker's conviction.
Peter Strozniak can be reached at pstrozniak@cutimes.com.
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