A former Massachusetts credit union loan officer said he knew it was wrong to repeatedly increase his home equity line of credit to nearly $1 million, but it never occurred to him that it was a federal crime.
U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni in Springfield sentenced Brian Socha, 45, of Brookfield last week to 18 months in federal prison. In August 2025, he pleaded guilty to one felony count of bank fraud while he was a consumer loan officer at the $324 million MassMutual Federal Credit Union in Springfield. Socha also was ordered to pay $902,541 in restitution.
In February 2018, Socha began accessing co-workers' computers to increase his HELOC credit limit from $135,500 – the amount of the original loan on his home – to $150,000, giving him more access to funds. Over the next five years, Socha incrementally raised the credit limit 19 times, reaching a total of $995,000. He also lowered the loan's interest rate at least four times. The first reduction occurred March 22, 2019, when he dropped the rate from 5.25% to 1.99%, according to federal prosecutors.
When coworkers were away from their desks, Socha used their computers to make unauthorized changes. The credit union's internal system recorded the changes under those employees' accounts. By November 2023, MassMutual discovered his fraud and fired him.
After landing a new job at the postal service in Brookfield, Socha thought his HELOC had "disappeared" from his online banking account, showing a "zero balance," according to a letter he wrote to Judge Mastroianni.
"With that gone, I thought it was done," Socha wrote. "I was incorrect. It was anything but done and I realized that when I answered an early morning doorbell the following February 2024 when I was informed by two FBI agents that I was charged with federal bank fraud."
Socha also stated he doesn't remember what caused him to increase the credit on his HELOC for the first time, but it happened, and then it continued to happen over the coming years.
"Money was still being used in the search for happiness for me, happiness for my wife and happiness in our marriage. I was convinced that things brought happiness and that once we had enough, we would be happy and our marriage would be saved," Socha wrote. "I now know that this happiness never comes from money or material things. I hid the source of funds from my wife trying to protect her from the worry and trying to make her happy in the process, along with myself. I knew what I had done was wrong, but it never occurred to me that it was a federal crime. I was depressed, and although not an excuse, it severely clouded my judgment, enabling me to go down a path that I never that thought would be in my DNA."
Federal prosecutors requested a two-year prison sentence and a $50,000 fine.
"By abusing his position as a loan officer in a small community credit union, Socha successfully preyed on the trust of his employer (and colleagues) to the tune of almost one million dollars," prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo. "His actions have undoubtedly eroded workplace trust at all levels within the victim institution as well as the public's trust in small credit unions."
Socha expressed sorrow and remorse for committing the federal crime but said he hoped that it would not define him.
"Rather, I hope that it will be the event that changed the course I was on and will enable me to become the best person I am able to be and will allow me to continue growing in my community and within a loving, supportive family," he wrote.
Peter Strozniak can be reached at peter.strozniak@arc-network.com.
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