SHEBOYGAN, Wis. – The former president of Midwest CU on Friday was charged with embezzling more than $100,000, falsifying loan documents and using a company credit card to buy personal items for herself such as furniture and lingerie.
Sarah Gora, 33, was the only full-time employee at the $3-million credit union from June 2006 until she was fired in March 2011.
An internal audit was launched in December 2010 after a part-time credit union employee began to notice discrepancies in credit union accounts and that Gora seemed to be spending large amounts of money on herself, according to court records. An outside auditor was brought in to investigate further, looking at records from Jan. 1, 2007 to March 21, 2011.
The audits found Gora took $150,000 in November 2010 that was supposed to be invested for MCU and instead deposited it into her own personal account at another local credit union, the records show.
The audit also showed that she skirted credit union rules to double the credit limit on her MCU-issued credit card from $2,500 to $5,000 and used it over those years to make more than $62,000 in unauthorized charges for items ranging from furniture and food to Victoria’s Secret purchases.
She paid her credit card balances by obtaining a car loan through the credit union in October 2006 for $22,397 and then frequently refinanced the loan over the years, again skirting MCU guidelines.
In December 2010, Gora applied for a home equity loan of $188,027, using her Sheboygan Falls home for equity and completing the loan review and underwriting herself.
Midwest CU is a credit union serving all employees of Sheboygan-based Piggly Wiggly Midwest, LLC, and Piggly Wiggly grocery stores.
