MEMPHIS, Tenn.—The alleged kidnapping of a credit union employee in her home here as part of a robbery plot is the third time in the past four months that such a kidnapping/robbery has taken place at a credit union.
Todd Vanderpool, CEO of the $107-million FAA, which was the most recent to be victimized by such a kidnapping/robbery, recalls when similar abductions happened in Texas and how those events can change the way FI employees look at their own personal safety.
Early Monday morning, the 64-year-old manager of the 8082 Rockcreek Cove FAA office here was allegedly kidnapped at her home by two men who forced to her travel to the credit union to obtain funds. According to the Memphis Police Department, the victim was forced to drive her car to the credit union and then let the two men into the branch. There the two men robbed the CU and fled with an undisclosed amount of money in a bag, scattering cash outside the CU when a dye pack exploded in the money sack.
“Back in the 1980s, when I worked in Texas at a bank, this sort of kidnapping was not uncommon,” said Vanderpool. “In fact, the criminals would not only abduct bankers, they also went after their families.”
Families Threatened
Families were involved in the previous two alleged CU employee kidnappings this year.
As CUToday.info reported earlier, in late February, Matthew Yussman, CFO at Achieve Financial Credit Union in New Britain, Conn., was allegedly confronted at his home by two robbers who held him and his mother hostage overnight, then attached what he was told was a bomb vest to his chest and told him to drive to the credit union and retrieve cash in what ultimately was an unsuccessful robbery attempt. Three men are being sought in the case. Details on that story can be found here.
Two months later, Mark Ziegler, CEO at Oak Ridge, Tenn.-based Y-12 CU, was kidnapped. Authorities reported that Ziegler and his family were held hostage in their home as part of an alleged attempted robbery and extortion plot engineered by two men and a woman. The crooks were not successful in getting money from Y-12. Details on that story can be found here.
“I hate to say it, but we live in an evil time,” said Vanderpool. “And while there are plenty of great people in this world—and we see that with our membership—there are a lot of bad people out there. So it is incumbent upon us, especially those of us who work at a financial institution, to take extra precautions.”
Vanderpool urged credit union staff across the country to not take what has happened in Tennessee and Connecticut lightly.
“We need to evaluate things closely, like our personal security,” said Vanderpool. “Statistics show that where people are attacked the most is not at work, it’s at home, at a gas station or in a parking lot. And most of the time, in those places we don’t even think about our own security. It’s time for us to do that, not only for the sake of the credit union we work at, but especially for ourselves and for our families as well.”
Kidnappings Increasing
While still rare, robberies involving kidnappings have occurred before at credit unions, but never with the frequency that has been seen in 2015. In 2007, for instance, a branch manager of Jeep Country FCU in Ohio was held hostage overnight in her home with her family, then driven in the middle of the night by two robbers to go to a branch and get money. The manager was left in her pajamas in the CU’s parking lot while the robbers escaped with the money. No one was hurt.
Now, with personal information on credit union executives, including their home addresses, more readily accessible than ever, should CUs and individuals be taking additional precautions?
In an earlier interview with CUToday.info, Mike Petrone, risk management consultant with CUNA Mutual Group, said the risk is a “concern,” but he was also careful that that risk not be over-stated.
“Employee abduction is absolutely is something we take seriously and we do play close attention to when we do our security reviews,” said Petrone. “We don’t want to exaggerate it, but it is something that does happen.”