For the second consecutive month, the National Credit Union Administration has issued what may be some of the harshest prohibition orders on record.
Chief among them is an order that Michael LaJoice, a former employee of Clarkston, Mich.-based Clarkston Brandon Community CU pay more than $17.7 million in restitution for bank fraud, along with a prison sentence of 11 years and three years’ supervised release. He and others receiving prohibition orders are barred from participating in the affairs of any federally insured financial institution. Clarkston Brandon Community CU was conserved in the wake of LaJoice's crimes and subsequently merged into Michigan State University FCU.
LaJoice’s prohibition order and sentence follows on the heels of
NCUA officials could not confirm whether these fines were the largest on record, adding that the courts, rather than the regulator, determine restitution payments.
This month’s other prohibition orders are as follows:
- Brittney Merisier, also known as Brittney Estimable, a former employee or institution-affiliated party of Space Coast Credit Union in Melbourne, Fla., consented to the issuance of a prohibition order and agreed to comply with all of its terms to settle and resolve the NCUA Board’s claims against her.
- Sara Jo Morrison, a former employee of Black Hills Federal Credit Union in Rapid City, S.D., pleaded guilty to the charge of credit union embezzlement. Morrison was sentenced to one month in prison, two years’ supervised release and was ordered to pay $5,400 in restitution.
- Nicole A. Wombacher, a former employee of Your Choice Federal Credit Union in Altoona, Pa., pleaded guilty to the charges of theft and receiving stolen property. Wombacher entered into an accelerated rehabilitative disposition program and was sentenced to one year in prison, and was ordered to pay $10,802 in restitution.
