SANTA ANA, Calif.–Two former credit union CEOs have pleaded guilty to stealing, with one receiving a prison sentence.
Wendy Wall, 50, the former manager of Pepsi Cola Employees Federal Union, pleaded guilty to a long embezzlement scheme that eventually sank the credit union, and received 21 months in federal prison.
In addition to the prison term, Wall has also been ordered a four-year term of supervised release, which would include 12 months of home confinement, and was further ordered to pay $480,273 in restitution, according to the FBI.
According to authorities, Wall, who was the CU’s sole employee, embezzled from the credit union from 1993 through early 2014 by creating false loans. The scheme was uncovered during an NCUA audit.
Meanwhile, in Marietta, Ohio, Jane Ann Dearth, the former CEO of Riverview Credit Union, pleaded guilty to embezzling tens of thousands of dollars from the CU. Although that amount would be considered a fourth-degree felony, Dearth, 42, was allowed to plead guilty to a fifth-degree felony, instead.
Prosecutors said the crime took place from April of 2011 through March of 2014 and involved numerous methods of stealing, including unauthorized mileage checks, reimbursement for personal purchases, paying her husband for services never approved by the CU’s board, and use of the CU’s credit card for unauthorized purchases, he said.
Among the items purchased were candy, a bicycle pump and a Kindle Fire.
Prosecutors said they have yet to arrive at an amount to be paid in restitution, and a fifth-degree felony can mean up to a year of jail time, but Dearth is not expected to be sentenced to prison.
Related
4 Years Later, Another Person is Sentenced