PHOENIX – Prosecutors are recommending a judge sentence the former member business loan chief at Yuma’s AEA FCU to a 20-year prison term because of the large losses the MBL fraud cost the one-time $410-million credit union, bringing it to its knees.
In documents filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, U.S. prosecutors say the fraud by William Liddle amounted to approximately $30 million on the $60 million of MBLs Liddle approved through the fraud scheme. Liddle was convicted of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering in connection with accepting more than $1 million in bribes in exchange for approving the MBLs.
The fraud has virtually sunk the former Arizona Education Association Credit Union, forcing NCUA to take it under conservatorship in December 2010, and giving it an emergency $20 million loan to keep it afloat.
Liddle, claims the prosecutors, “has shown no remorse for his action, even after a jury found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of 56 high-level felony offenses.” Furthermore, they said, Liddle lied in his personal bankruptcy proceedings, lied during his testimony at trial, and has failed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes.
“The nature and the circumstances of the offense demand a lengthy prison sentence for [Liddle] – one that is at least 20 years long, and nothing about Defendant’s history indicates to the contrary,” the prosecutors told the court.
Liddle’s sentencing is scheduled to take place next month.
