EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – The operations manager at a small local credit union, Alton Employees FCU, on Monday was sentenced to eight months in federal prison for embezzling $72,000 from the credit union.
Kalicza “Kali” Tegel-Mills went as far as to use her boss’ security code to enter the credit union on a snowy day to steal money, then tried to blame it on her boss.
Tegel-Mills, 35, pleaded guilty in December to bank fraud.
At various times she worked member service rep, teller supervisor, loan officer and operations manager for the $6-million credit union, which was merged into 1st MidAmerica FCU.
Her attorney said she has paid all but $9,000 of the restitution.
U.S. District Judge G. Patrick Murphy gave Tegel-Mills a 90-day stay before she has to report to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons because she is in need of surgery.
