NCUA bans two guilty of embezzlement, larceny

The National Credit Union Administration on Friday issued its March prohibition notices, barring two former financial services professionals from being involved in the affairs of any federally insured financial institution.

One notice was filed against Gwendolyn Dubose, a former employee of Greater Abyssinia Federal Credit Union of Cleveland, who pleaded guilty to charges of making false entries, identity theft and embezzlement.

Dubose was sentenced to 64 months in prison, three years’ supervised release and ordered to pay $321,497.08 in restitution.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Ohio, Dubose and her partner, Kolade Awoyade, embezzled almost $200,000 from the credit union between 2012 and 2015. Dubose worked as manager and treasurer at GAFCU while Awoyade worked as the head teller.

When GAFCU tried to merge with another credit union in November 2015, several questionable transactions were revealed, including an overstatement of GAFCU’s assets. The credit union, which served members of the Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church, was liquidated by NCUA in December 2015.

The other prohibition notice was filed against Carolyn LaFreniere, a former employee of SIS Insurance and Financial Services LLC of Latham, N.Y., who pleaded guilty to the charge of petit larceny. LaFreniere was ordered to pay a $100 fine.

SIS Insurance and Financial Services is an affiliate of Sunmark Federal Credit Union, a $661 million-asset institution also based in Latham, N.Y.