HOUSTON – Cheryl Vickers, who served for years as VP of accounting for Houston Police Federal Credit Union, was convicted of embezzlement that occurred for approximately 18 years.
U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson said Vickers, now 66, was charged in a criminal information filed Dec. 7, 2015. Last week she appeared before U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon to enter a plea of guilty to one count of embezzlement.
As part of her plea, Vickers admitted that between January 1997 and February 2015 she embezzled at least $1,247,785 from the CU.
The embezzlement was not discovered until after her retirement in February 2015. At that time, a credit union member brought in a "stale" check to have it re-issued. A "stale" check is an old check that has been issued by the credit union but never cashed. When credit union records showed that Vickers had already reissued the stale check, the CU conducted an audit of Vickers' banking activity.
According to court records, the audit revealed that from January 1997 until her retirement, Vickers had embezzled at least $1,247,785 by various means, including, but not limited to, re-issuing stale checks. The credit union maintained a ledger of its stale checks, which showed that Vickers reissued stale checks to credit card companies to pay her personal credit card bills. Some of the reissued checks even had her credit card number hand-written on them.
Shortly before she retired, on Feb. 4, 2015, Vickers reissued a stale check in the amount of $7,800 to pay her Chase Bank credit card bill.
Vickers admitted that while employed at the Houston Police Federal Credit Union, she took credit union money without authorization or permission. She faces up to 30 years in federal prison at the time of her sentencing. She was permitted to remain on bond pending that hearing.
The charges are the result of an investigation conducted by FBI, with assistance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Belinda Beek is prosecuting the case.
'Insider Knowledge'
Houston Police Federal Credit Union on Tuesday issued the following statement to Credit Union Journal:
"As announced this summer, Houston Police Federal Credit Union has been working with the FBI to investigate suspected embezzlement of funds. The guilty plea by former employee Cheryl Vickers on charges of embezzlement of a federally insured credit union is an important step in our effort to seek justice in this matter. We thank the dedicated law enforcement officers for their diligent work.
After credit union staff discovered the fraud in August, the investigation determined that approximately $1.2 million was stolen in relatively small amounts over several years. The investigation confirmed that the funds were stolen from credit union assets. No member accounts were involved.
As the Vice President in charge of Information Technology and Accounting, Ms. Vickers possessed insider knowledge that helped her hide her alleged embezzlement. We believe the fact that she had extensive knowledge of the core data processing system and was a key contributor to the development of our internal controls gave her the ability to cover her tracks in our IT and accounting systems.
The credit union is encouraging prosecution to the full extent of the law and we are seeking full restitution from Ms. Vickers as a part of her sentence. Despite this fraud, the Houston Police Federal Credit Union remains financially strong. With assets totaling over $600 million, this case will not have a material financial impact on our operations."
