Judge Orders Reinstatement Of Key Polish& Slavic FCU Figure

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - (08/01/05) -- A state judge last week ordered CUNAMutual Group to restore fidelity bond coverage for a key figure inthe decade-long struggle for control of Polish & Slavic FCU,and directed the nation's largest ethnic credit union to reinstatehim to the board. The New York Supreme Court ruled that CUNA Mutualerroneously terminated bond coverage for Dr. Marcin Sar after Sardisclosed the credit union's financial statements in consultationswith Bear Stearns, requiring the $1 billion credit union to kickSar off the board. The judge ruled that Sar was exercising hisfiduciary duty as a director in consulting with the Wall Streetbrokerage and ordered CUNA Mutual to immediately restore Sar's bondcoverage so that the ongoing dispute for control of the creditunion "can be debated in the appropriate venue, the Boardmeetings," according to documents obtained by The Credit UnionJournal. Sar is a central figure in the decade-long struggle forcontrol of Polish & Slavic FCU. He served as president and CEOuntil 1996, then was a director in 2000 when NCUA removed the boardand took the credit union under conservatorship for broad BankSecrecy Act violations committed during Sar's regime. The creditunion eventually paid a $350,000 fine to settle the BSA case. AfterNCUA released the credit union from conservatorship and appointed anew credit union board, Sar launched a write-in campaign and wasreelected to the board in 2003.