CLEVELAND-Federal prosecutors have filed papers seeking to seize the $1 million home in suburban Solon owned by Alex Spirikaitis, the fugitive CEO of Taupa Lithuanian CU, which was shuttered by regulators two weeks ago.
Spirikaitis disappeared two weeks ago after a night-long showdown at his home with local police and the FBI, days after the $24 million CU was closed. When FBI agents moved in on the home July 16 they found it empty.
Spirikaitis, 51, is charged with making false credit institution entries.
Prosecutors say Spirikaitis printed out numbers and taped them over the actual numbers from the credit union's account statements. He then copied the altered documents and submitted them as genuine to the regulators.
Spirikaitis also employed a computer software program called "Phantom Font" that allowed him to electronically download documents, then alter them on his computer. He would then print out the new version with the altered information in a format identical to the look and style of the original document, prosecutors said.
Spirikaitis is suspected of falsely reporting more than $16 million in assets deposited with other credit unions in 2011 and 2012.
Spirikaitis never made more than $50,000 during the time he ran the Lithuanian credit union, yet he and his wife, Julie, paid a builder about $1.7 million to build their house in Solon in 2012, according to court records. The money was paid using checks drawn on Taupa Lithuanian Credit Union.
