A former board chair of a Virginia credit union was indicted Thursday on 20 felony charges of forgery check forgery and ID fraud.
Mark M. Whitaker served as board chair of the $101,630 New Bethel Federal Credit Union in Portsmouth, Va. from at least 2012 to 2015 when the credit union liquidated because of its poor financial condition. The 172-member credit union, chartered in 1978, was associated with the New Bethel Baptist Church also in Portsmouth where Whitaker is an associate pastor. He also is a Norfolk city council member.
The indictments identified three victims, including Malinda Starkley who also served on the New Bethel FCU board of directors as its treasurer from 2012 to 2015, NCUA documents show. Starkley also is listed as a trustee and deacon of the New Bethel Baptist Church.
She was a victim of fourteen of the 18 charges of forgery and forged checks. The indictments did not divulge the total amount of the forged checks. All of the crimes committed against Starkley occurred on Aug. 23, 2013 while the credit union was operating, according to the indictments.
Kevin Blount and Caroline Larosiliere were victims of four forgery charges. It’s unknown whether Blount and Larosiliere were members of the credit union.
Whitaker was also charged with two counts of ID fraud.
Capt. Lee Cherry of the Portsmouth Sheriff’s office said he was involved in the Whitaker investigation along with another sheriff investigator, an agent of the U.S. Treasury and the NCUA. He declined to comment further, however, because the investigation remains under way.
A special grand jury was impaneled Tuesday to hear evidence about the financial relationship between Whitaker’s church, the credit union and the church’s development company, according to local media reports. By Thursday afternoon, the grand jury returned the indictments against Whitaker.
In December 2014, New Bethel FCU consented to a cease and desist order issued by the NCUA. The credit union showed a net loss of more than $25,000 end of 2014, according to NCUA financial performance reports. The credit union also posted a total net income loss of more than $21,000 from 2011 to 2013. At the end of 2010, New Bethel recorded a net income gain of $37,906, according to NCUA financial performance reports.
By April 2015, the credit union was placed into conservatorship by the NCUA. The credit union voluntarily liquidated in August because it could not restore viable operations.
Whitaker did not return a CU Times phone call and email Thursday seeking comment. The NCUA declined to comment. Whitaker’s lawyer, Don P. Scott of Portsmouth, also did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Friday, though Scott said Whitaker plans to plead not guilty at an arraignment scheduled for Monday, a local newspaper reported.
