In February, a former credit union accountant will begin her two-year prison sentence for stealing more than $300,000 from the $20.9 million Independent Employers Group Federal Credit Union in Hilo, Hawaii.
Melody Camba, 38, pleaded guilty to embezzlement in September, nine months after IEGFCU was merged into the $1.5 billion HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union in Honolulu in December 2015.
During Camba’s sentencing hearing Dec. 21, U.S. District Court Judge Helen Gillmor ordered the former employee to pay $308,696 in restitution and serve five years of supervised release following her prison term.
Camba stole the funds from January 2014 to November 2015 by writing 108 unauthorized checks. The theft was uncovered after the credit union merged with HawaiiUSA last year.
Six court documents filed by Camba’s attorney and prosecutors were either sealed or restricted and were not open for public review on the federal docket.
However, some details about the embezzlement case surfaced during Camba’s sentencing hearing covered by local media. Those details were confirmed by a Hawaii USA spokesperson Tuesday.
As IEG’s accountant, Camba was responsible for recording all transactions on the credit union’s ledger.
HawaiiUSA FCU Senior Vice President Barbara Carvalho told Judge Gillmor that IEG’s insurer refused to cover the $308,000 loss because Camba remained employed during the audit. As a result, IEG was unable to contribute to employees’ IRA accounts. IEG had seven full time employees and two part time employees, according to the credit union’s September 2015 Call Report.
When auditors found the discrepancies in IEG’s books, Camba, a 20-year employee, deleted entries in an attempt to conceal her theft only to later confess to the crime.
Assistant Federal Public Defender Shanlyn Park reportedly said Camba stole the money following marital issues that ruined her family’s finances, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Federal prosecutors and Park did not return CU Times messages seeking comment.
