Branch Manager Jailed In EmbezzlementScheme

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - (07/27/05) -- A former branch manager at AlaskaAirlines Employees FCU was sentenced Monday to four years in prisonfor a long-running scheme that drained $468,000 from the creditunion. Over a 10-year period, Marilyn Peterson, 58, stole cash fromthe vaults, took out loans in members' names, and divertedstatements and falsified records to cover her tracks, prosecutorssaid. Credit union officials said she was able to hide the schemefor so long because she made payments on the loans to throw offauditors. Peterson pleaded guilty in March to one count of bankfraud and along with her prison term was ordered to pay $468,000 inrestitution.