CLEVELAND – Authorities on Friday charged Aziz Ukshini, the owner of Hard Rock Crushing Ltd.; and Azmet Inc., with obtaining $2.8 million in fraudulent loans from St. Paul Croatian FCU, the one-time $240 million credit union that collapsed in 2010 amid the biggest credit union fraud ever.
Ukshini allegedly paid Anthony Raguz, the president of the fraud-ridden credit union, $90,000 in bribes to approve the loans even after he had defaulted on previous loans from the credit union.
Ukshini, 38, was charged with one count of financial institution fraud, one count of bribery in connection with the business dealings of a financial institution, and two counts of money laundering.
Raguz has pleaded guilty to accepting more than $1 million in bribes to approve more than $70 million in loans to members who had no means or intentions to repay the funds. He has agreed to testify against other figures in the scheme while he is awaiting sentencing. Among them are A. Eddy Zai, a Cleveland developer who is charged with obtaining $19 million in St. Paul Croatian loans in exchange for cash payments to Raguz.
More than two dozen credit union members have been convicted in the scheme, including Koljo Nikolovski, a purported Croatian crime figure, who was found guilty in May of obtaining more than $6 million in fraudulent loans, most of which was wired to banks in Croatia and Albania. Nikolovski, who allegedly paid other members to obtain loans that were redirected to him, is appealing his conviction.
NCUA estimates the St. Paul Croatian failure will cost the National CU Share Insurance Fund $170 million, making it the biggest credit union fraud ever.
