DAVENPORT, Iowa A member of Scott Schools CU was sentenced to a year and a day in prison Thursday, on a charge she stole more than $800,000 kiting checks between her personal and business accounts with the credit union.
Kelly Taylor, 52, and her husband had been longtime members of the credit union and had a personal checking account there, according to court records. On Aug. 28, 2012, Taylor opened a business account at the credit union for the general contractor business owned and operated by her and her husband. She wrote checks between the business account and her personal account in close succession in order to take advantage of the time required for the credit union to process the checks.
Taylor was able to make it appear as if there were sufficient funds in her two accounts to cover large checks and debits despite the fact that the true balances in both accounts were grossly insufficient, authorities said.
According to court records, Taylor knew she did not have sufficient funds in her accounts to cover the checks drawn on the accounts and she continued to kite insufficient funds checks between the accounts in order to deceive the credit union until her accounts were closed in January 2013.
Taylor pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud and has agreed to pay more than $800,000 restitution.
Her attorney described her efforts at paying restitution "extraordinary," including liquidating her retirement account, withdrawing the cash value of her life insurance policy and leaving her with less than $500 in her personal checking account, according to a sentencing memo. She and her husband also sold their family home in Davenport and her Ford Explorer in order to pay restitution, the memo states.
In addition, the couple has agreed to sell their decades-old antique collection, including an inventory of nearly 220 items to an auction house in Massachusetts. An auction has been set for next month, the memo states. The value of the antiques is approximately $350,000.
