The former chief executive of a New York City thrift has been charged with defrauding the company of millions of dollars.
Stephen Irving and three others were indicted last week on charges that they orchestrated two schemes to embezzle from Atlantic Liberty Savings. Mr. Irving resigned as president and chief executive officer of the $110 million-asset thrift last spring.
The indictments were announced by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York after a nine-month investigation.
Mr. Irving is accused of permitting another defendant, thrift customer Stanley Liebman, to withdraw more money from Atlantic Liberty than Mr. Liebman had in his account. That scheme cost the thrift at least $3 million, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
He was also indicted for allegedly filing "misleading" registration statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Atlantic Liberty never completed the conversion.
Two other former thrift employees, Jennifer Joshua and Joyce Edwards, also were indicted. They are accused of using teller's checks to pay personal expenses and then using funds from customer accounts to cover those checks. From 1994 to 1998 the two allegedly stole at least $600,000 to pay credit card bills, make a down payment on Ms. Edwards' apartment, and cover other personal expenses.
Ms. Joshua, a former assistant branch manager, is also accused of intentionally failing to report unusually large customer transactions to the Internal Revenue Service, as is required by law. Mr. Irving is charged with lying to investigators in an attempt to cover for her.
Barry Donohue, Atlantic Liberty's current president, said Ms. Joshua was dismissed from the thrift last year and that Ms. Edwards resigned about the same time.
Mr. Irving, Ms. Edwards, and Mr. Liebman did not return calls. Ms. Joshua could not be located.
If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum of 30 years imprisonment and a $1 million fine, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The indictments also seek "the forfeiture of the defendants' ill-gotten gains," including Ms. Edwards' apartment.
Mr. Donohue, who was named president in January, said his company has cooperated with the U.S. Attorney's Office throughout the investigation. He would not comment on the specific charges but said that the company remains well capitalized and no depositor has lost funds.
