BILLINGS, Mont.–The former operations manager of Altana FCU has pleaded guilty in federal court to embezzling more than $60,000 while employed by the credit union.
According to U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich, the defendant, Kelly Jo Muzzana, 40, pleaded guilty to a charge of embezzlement by a credit union employee. Muzzana faces a maximum of 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine and five years of supervised release.
Federal prosecutors alleged Muzzana embezzled more than $60,000 of credit union money by making unauthorized purchases with debit cards, credit cards and accounts attached to members while she was the operations manager.
Prosecutors further alleged Muzzana personally processed members’ fraudulent spending claims to avoid detection, preventing many customers from filing police reports.
Also Responsible for Fraud Alerts
Muzzana was responsible for Altana's fraud-alert process, which allowed her to create duplicate bank cards for customers' accounts and bring them home, prosecutors added. She also took cards Altana received in the mail that couldn't be delivered to members.
Muzzana used those cards to make purchases online and in stores around Billings.
Altana reimbursed the $60,000 stolen from members.