The NCUA banned former credit union executives who collectively stole more than $1.1 million from their respective credit unions.
John C. Barry, a retired police officer and the former office manager of the merged $7 million Portland Maine Police Department Federal Credit Union pleaded guilty to embezzlement and falsifying NCUA Call Reports. He was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, five years’ supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $533,791. In December 2014, PMPDFCU was consolidated into the $108 million TruChoice Federal Credit Union of South Portland, Maine.
Sherry Garner, a former president/CEO of the merged HD York Federal Credit Union in York, Pa., pleaded guilty to bank larceny and tax evasion. She admitted to embezzling $252,106 from the credit union between 2010 and 2013. She also admitted to federal income tax evasion for not reporting her embezzled income and owed $62,704 in back taxes. She was sentenced to two years in prison, three years’ supervised release and ordered to pay restitution of $314,810. In May 2014, the $2.7 million, HD York FCU was merged with the $69 million White Rose Credit Union, also based in York.
Brenda Rudd,vice president of lending for the $32 million Morehead Community Federal Credit Union in Morehead, Ky., was ordered to pay restitution of $237,196 after she pleaded guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. She was sentenced to three years in prison, and five years’ supervised release.
Lisa Hauptmann,a former president/CEO of the $18.5 million Oil Country Federal Credit Union in Titusville, Pa., was ordered to pay $43,950 after she pleaded guilty to the charge of embezzlement. She was sentenced to one day in prison and four years’ supervised release, which includes six month of community confinement and six months of home detention.
Melissa Beyer, a former bookkeeper at the merged $28.2 million Oshkosh Central Credit Union in Oshkosh, Wis., consented to the issuance of a prohibition order and agreed to comply with all of its terms to settle and resolve the NCUA board’s claims against her.
However, the NCUA will not release the specific claims against her, Ben Hardaway, an NCUA communications specialist, said Thursday.
Concerns about the financial viability of Oshkosh Central Credit Union and the revelation that more than $1.7 million was missing from its vault prompted Wisconsin regulators to approve a July 30, 2014 merger of the Oshkosh-based, $28.2 million credit union into the $2.4 billion Community First Credit Union in Appleton, Wis.
In May 2014, the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions said it was investigating alleged substantial irregularities at the 3,432-member Oshkosh Central, which prompted the suspension of its longtime president/CEO Mark Patchak and bookkeeper Melisa Beyer.
State regulators determined more than $1.753 million in cash was missing from the credit union’s vault. Many other irregularities were uncovered as well, Catherine J. Tierney, president/CEO of Community First Credit Union, said in a CU Times interview in August 2014.
Patchak and Beyer were later fired.
Although state regulators turned over their findings to the FBI, there have been no criminal charges brought against Patchak and Beyer. The FBI in Wisconsin did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
