The NCUA sued former Jackson Area Federal Credit Union President/CEO Leigh Bridges and her husband, Chad Bridges, alleging they diverted at least $95 million from the Mississippi credit union.
The civil lawsuit was filed on May 14 in U.S. District Court in Jackson, just nine days after the agency placed the institution into conservatorship on May 6.
Bridges joined the credit union in 1992 and served as CFO for several years before being named CEO in June 2022, following the retirement of Gary N. Fairley. She allegedly began stealing from the credit union in 2015, according to court documents.
From 2015 to March 31, 2026, Bridges allegedly siphoned millions, buying high-end jewelry, handbags, luxury cars, fine art and a Steinway piano, and made payments to a construction company, interior designer, pool installer and property maintenance services company. She also made more than $15 million in credit card payments and a $20,130 wire transfer from Jackson Area to Chung P. Luk in Hong Kong, China.
"The purpose of this transaction is currently unknown," the NCUA said in its complaint.
Bridges also made two wire transfers in the combined amount of $273,400 from the credit union into her personal account with Coinbase Global Inc. She also made another wire transfer to purchase a Tesla for $66,571.
Bridges concealed the alleged fraud with false deposit entries into her share accounts and the share accounts belonging to her husband. The false deposit entries were manually entered under the transaction code SDIT, which signifies a share deposit, and contained a description with the preface EFT, which stands for electronic funds transfer.
Those entries were false because no funds were being transferred from external sources. Instead, the funds were being transferred from the general ledger of Jackson Area to the share accounts of Leigh and Chad Bridges, according to the NCUA. The false EFT transactions listed financial institutions such as Acorns Investing, JP Morgan Chase Bank and Raymond James as their sources.
Bridges concealed the fact that funds were missing from Jackson Area by overstating the amounts listed as on deposit with, or pending from, Corporate America Credit Union ($5.6 billion, Irondale, Ala.).
"Aggregating those transactions from the information for their share accounts of Leigh and Chad Bridges shows over $51 million dollars in false entries from the year 2015 to the present," the NCUA alleged.
In 2024, NCUA examiners spoke with Bridges concerning the high volume of funds going through her credit union accounts. After that conversation, Bridges closed her share accounts, according to court documents.
But after closing her share accounts, Bridges began to run high volumes of funds through her husband's share accounts. From May 2019 to May 2026, Bridges transferred $13.8 million in funds from the Jackson Area general ledger to her husband's share accounts.
Court documents showed Corporate America identified certain anomalies that led to a further investigation of Jackson Area and prompted Corporate America to notify the NCUA. A review of Bridges' wire activity identified at least 162 ACH debits on Bridges' account for a total of $16.2 million that were anomalous or unusual, according to Corporate America.
When the NCUA filed its complaint on May 14, U.S. District Court Judge Daniel P. Jordan granted the federal agency to a temporary restraining order that froze at least 13 different financial accounts held by the former CEO and her husband. The TRO also prevents the transfer of four properties the couple purchased in Mississippi and Alabama, four vehicles (two Tesla Y Models and two Mercedes-Benz), artwork, jewelry, handbags, clothing and cash value life insurance policies.
On April 17, in a meeting that included two Jackson Area board members and two NCUA examiners, Leigh Bridges admitted to misappropriating the credit union's funds for her own personal benefit and made false entries on the financial records to conceal it. Even though she could not remember exactly how much she allegedly stole, Bridges stated that millions of dollars of the misappropriated funds are in personal accounts outside Jackson Area, according to court documents.
The TRO is in force until the federal court decides on the NCUA's motion for a preliminary injunction that would safeguard the funds, assets and properties pending the outcome of the civil lawsuit.
Leigh Bridges did not respond to a CU Times request for comment. An attorney for Bridges was not listed on the federal court docket.
Peter Strozniak can be reached at peter.strozniak@arc-network.com.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.