Auditors Yank Certification of Lafayette FCU Vote

KENSINGTON, Md. – The national auditing firm RSM McGladrey, which oversaw the members vote at Lafayette FCU to convert to a bank, has rescinded its certification of the controversial 90-day ballot. In a letter to both the credit union’s Washington attorney Richard Garabedian, and to NCUA, McGladrey said it has discovered certain errors in the vote tabulation and because the vote was so close–the conversion passed by just 18 votes out of 5,1000 cast–the firm is withdrawing its certification of the process. The auditing company said it is reviewing the nature and the causes of the error. Members of the $330 million credit union have called on NCUA to reject the vote because of alleged improprieties and irregularities in the balloting. NCUA, which is required to approve the vote, is reviewing numerous member complaints.