WASHINGTON-A federal judge last week said NCUA's closure of Vensure FCU was predicted by the April 15 regulatory takeover, hours after federal indictments against international gambling figures and the freezing of their assets cut off all sources of income for the Mesa, Ariz., CU.
In an explanation of a June 24 sealed order, U.S. Judge Rosemary Collyer ruled that NCUA's move was not "arbitrary and capricious" as lawyers for the $5-million CU had argued, but were well-founded based on the elimination of the credit union's sole source of business, which is processing bets for the world's two biggest Internet poker sites, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.
Lawyers for Vensure argued that even without the gambling business it was preparing a comprehensive loan and deposit program prior to the NCUA takeover.
