Michael A. LaJoice, a former CFO who embezzled more than $18 million from a Michigan credit union, was sentenced to seven to 20 years Monday by an Oakland County circuit court judge.
The state’s sentence will reportedly run concurrently with LaJoice’s 11-year sentence ordered by a U.S. District Court judge in Detroit last month, according to the Associated Press.
LaJoice pleaded no contest to 14 state charges related the multimillion-dollar embezzlement of the $68.5 million Clarkston Brandon Community Credit Union, which led to its insolvency and consolidation last year with the $3.4 million Michigan State University Federal Credit Union in East Lansing.
LaJoice also was ordered to pay restitution of $18.6 million.
He began stealing from the Clarkston, Mich.-based credit union in 2007 and continued siphoning funds through 2015, according to court records. Finally, on January 5, 2016 state regulators finally caught up to him and confronted the former CFO about discrepancies in the books. The next morning, LaJoice shocked the community when he walked into the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office and confessed his crime to police investigators.
With the stolen funds, LaJoice lived a lavish lifestyle. He drove a $95,000 Cadillac Escalade, flew in a private jet and lived in a 5,800-square-foot multimillion-dollar custom-built home that included a nine-seat-movie theater. He also purchased vacant commercial properties on which he planned to build a retail and residential project that reportedly was the biggest development initiative in the history of Fenton, Mich., located about 60 miles northwest of Detroit.
While federal prosecutors acknowledged some of the stolen funds were recovered, they also said in court documents that a substantial amount of the money would likely never be recouped. Likewise, prosecutors did not specify the total amount of money recovered.
The former credit union executive reached a civil settlement with MSUFCU and agreed to pay full restitution, “with millions already paid,” according to his defense attorney. LaJoice’s lawyer did not specify in federal court documents the amount of money paid.
According to a local news report, however, about $3.5 million was reclaimed.
