A seventh credit union, the First African Baptist Church Federal Credit Union, which received services from the Service Center for Credit Unions Inc. in Bensalem Township, Pa., was closed Tuesday.
The NCUA announced it liquidated the $76,188 First African Baptist Church FCU in Sharon Hill, Pa. The $1.7 billion American Heritage Federal Credit Union in Philadelphia immediately assumed First African Baptist’s 261 members and their deposits.
The NCUA said it made the decision to liquidate First African Baptist Church FCU after determining the credit union was insolvent with no prospect of restoring viable operations.
In April, six credit unions, also served by the Service Center for Credit Unions, were shuttered due to insolvency, according to the NCUA.
The center provided recordkeeping and management services to the closed credit unions and eight other credit unions in the Philadelphia area that are still active. Joni Brown was listed as the president/CEO of six of the shuttered credit unions. She is also the owner of the service center, which is a private business.
Brown was not listed as the president/CEO of First African Baptist Church FCU.
The other closed credit unions were Cardozo Lodge Federal Credit Union of Bensalem, Pa.; Chester Upland School Employees Federal Credit Union of Chester, Pa.; Electrical Inspectors Federal Credit Union of Bensalem; O P S EMP Federal Credit Union of Bensalem; Servco Federal Credit Union of Bensalem and Triangle Interests % Service Center Federal Credit Union of Bensalem.
On April 4, a search warrant was authorized by a federal court in Philadelphia for what is believed to be Joni Brown’s house in Willow Grove, Pa. The search warrant document, obtained by CU Times, listed Joan Brown as the owner of the house.
FBI agents executed the search warrant at Brown’s house on April 5 and seized three thumb storage drives, a desktop computer and miscellaneous financial, banking and accounting documents. The search warrant did not specify the total amount of documents that were taken by the FBI.
CU Times called Brown’s home phone number in April seeking comment. In addition to contacting the service center, CU Times sent Brown two emails and a message via her LinkedIn account requesting her comments. She did not respond to the emails or voicemails.
It is not clear, however, whether the Service Center for Credit Unions is open. CU Times called the center’s main phone number several times on Tuesday, but the number is no longer working.
The service center was operating in April, however, when CU Times called to request comments from Brown about the search warrant, a person who identified himself as Jim and as an employee of the service center said Brown was not there. He declined to provide his last name.
However, Jim said he and four other employees expected the center to close, even though they had not been officially told anything yet by the center’s owner.
“That’s what we are expecting. We’re waiting for the other shoe to drop here,” he said. “But nobody has told us, so we continue to report to the office. We all feel that we have responsibility to the clients that remain.”
He also said NCUA examiners had been at the service center for weeks. The employee declined any further comment and referred calls to the NCUA.
The credit unions that received services from the center were the $86,262 Wesley AME Zion Federal Credit Union, the $3.6 million Asbestos Workers Local 14 Federal Credit Union, the $336,300 Bright Hope Federal Credit Union, the $855,426 ECAI Federal Credit Union the $821,009 Mount Carmel Baptist Federal Credit Union, the $11.8 million Northwood Federal Credit Union, and the $1.4 million Paper Converters Local 286/1034 Federal Credit Union. All of these cooperatives are based in Philadelphia.
The $62 million Eagle One Federal Credit Union in Claymont, Del., also received services from the service center.
