BISMARCK, N.D. – The former manager of a tiny credit union, nearby Glen Ullin CU, has pleaded guilty to the theft of $130,000 of members’ funds over a 24-year period, one of the longest-running credit union embezzlements unearthed.
Georgia Schwartz confessed she began stealing the funds—as much as $89,000 from one elderly member—as far back as 1987 and continued the thefts through 2011 when her tiny credit union, serving just 215 members, was merged into Western Cooperative CU.
The tiny credit union, chartered in 1954, peaked at about $1 million in assets and had just $650,000 when it was merged out in 2011.
Schwartz told prosecutors she kept two sets of books and later manipulated accounts, sometimes returning stolen funds to members, in order to hide the scheme.
She is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 19.
