NCUA: Health Savings Covered By The NCUSIF
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-NCUA said last week that Health Savings Accounts qualify for deposit insurance coverage under the National CU Share Insurance Fund.
In a new legal opinion letter issued to an HSA provider, HealthEquity Inc., of American Fork, Utah, NCUA explained that HSAs will be insured as long as the owner of the funds is a member of the credit union or otherwise eligible to maintain an account there, or as a revocable trust. HSAs are tax-deductible accounts in which taxpayers may deposit funds targeted for medical or other health purposes.
May Meets With Bush At White House Event
WASHINGTON-Harriet May, CEO of GECU, El Paso, Texas, joined 10 others last week in a meeting at the White House with President George W. Bush. May was on hand to discuss financial education initiatives and was representing CUNA. She spoke of her own credit union's financial education efforts to both young people and families feeling financial pressures. The President asked May directly about whether such activities were common to all credit unions. In addition, four members of the President's cabinet were also on hand.
SECU Makes $100k Donation To Memorial
RALEIGH, N.C.-State Employees CU announced yesterday it has donated $100,000 to the African-American CU Coalition to be contributed to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial project.
The funds will go towards the memorial being built on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. in memory of the late civil rights leader. The project is scheduled for completion in 2008.
Donations For Va. Tech Victims
BLACKSBURG, Va.-Both CUNA Mutual Group and the National CU Foundation said they have contributed $10,000 each to the Freedom First FCU/Virginia Tech Memorial Fund.
In addition, CUNA has contributed $5,000 and the Pennsylvania league has made a donation of $2,000. The fund was established by the credit union to help support the recovery of students, faculty and the community from last week's tragic shooting of 32 students on campus. The credit union has two branches on campus.
Guilty Plea In Shooting At CU
LANSING, Mich.-A former lecturer at Michigan State University pleaded guilty to shooting his wife to death in the MSU FCU parking lot last October. Donald Holmes, 64, pleaded guilty to second degree murder and agreed to serve 25 years in prison.
At a hearing, Holmes said he didn't recall firing the shots that killed his wife of more than 40 years, 61-year-old Catherine Holmes, as she sat in her car. Holmes told the court he had lied about how much money they had in their joint account and arrived at the credit union to try to convince her to return home.
Chinese Waiters Behind Scheme
NEW YORK-More than a dozen waiters in Chinatown and in Chinese restaurants in the northeast were arrested last week and charged with stealing more than $3 million from the credit cards of more than 1,000 unsuspecting diners.
The waiters stole the information from diners' cards using handheld skimmers, then used the information to make bogus cards, according to authorities. The cards were used to buy high-end electronic equipment, which was sold to electronics and computer stores in Queens.
An indictment obtained by the Credit Union Journal shows 12 men and one woman were charged, including alleged ringleader De-Ziang Huang, 34, from Brooklyn. Police seized $200,000 in cash, giant flat-screen televisions, a cache of Rolex watches and Luis Vuitton and Gucci handbags when they raided his apartment.
Waiters were paid $35 to $50 for each card they skimmed. The information was used to encode magnetic stripes on high quality forged credit card blanks. The stolen information was used to create several different cards on each identity.
As much as $20,000 was charged on each of the counterfeit cards, drawn on both bank and credit union accounts, authorities said. The ring flew 'shoppers' all around the east coast to make the cards purchases on trips that included overnight hotel stays, car rentals and airline flights.
Corrections And Clarifications
In the April 16 edition of Credit Union Journal, the wrong logo for New Horizons CU in Denver was used. Here is the correct logo.
