Credit Union Foe Nominated to Fed
WASHINGTON-President Bush nominated two bankers to the seven-member Federal Reserve Board of Governors, including Betsy Duke, the former chairman of the American Bankers Association and an ardent credit union critic. During her year as ABA Chairman, Duke traveled the country to defeat credit union legislation and testified before Congress in 2005 against credit union provisions in the Regulatory Relief Act, passed in the last Congress.
At the time, Duke, who is now chief operating officer at TownBank, in Portsmouth, Va., was executive vice president of Wachovia. President Bush also nominated Larry Klane, president of global financial services at Capital One Financial Corp., to the other vacancy on the Fed Board. Both nominees must be approved by the Senate.
CDCU Figure Pleads Innocent to Fraud Charges
HARRISBURG, Penn.-The former head of the Harrisburg Housing Authority and CEO of Greater Harrisburg Community CU pleaded not guilty last Tuesday to charges of lying to a grand jury probing the diversion of $500,000 in federal housing money to the now-failed community development credit union. Carl Payne, 66, is charged in a federal indictment with creating and backdating documents to obstruct a grand jury probe into the diversion of the housing funds.
Payne is also charged with lying about receiving $134,000 from the housing authority for his work running the tiny CDCU. Greater Harrisburg Community CU was chartered to much fanfare in 2001 to serve low-income residents surrounding the state capital, but was declared insolvent under the weight of bad loans in February 2006 and shuttered by NCUA. The credit union reported more than $265,000 in losses on just $1.6 million in assets for the first nine months of 2005.
Pentagon FCU Re-signs with AT&T
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Pentagon FCU announced it has signed a three-year multi-million dollar telecommunications contract with AT&T.
AT&T will upgrade existing data infrastructure and extend its voice and data capabilities at 26 domestic and international location for the $10 billion credit union. AT&T will also continue to provide voice and data service to Pentagon FCU through its OneNet Service.
Campus CU Ads FICS' Program
BATON ROUGE, La.-Campus FCU has implemented Financial Industry Computer Systems' Commercial Servicer, a commercial real estate loan servicing system.
The $330 million credit union began a commercial loan program in 2006. The system interfaces with the credit union's core processing system, by XP Systems.
Great Plains Absorbs Failed CDCU
JOPLIN, Mo.-Great Plains FCU said it has agreed to acquire the assets of Communities United CU, the 11-year-old community development credit union, that was declared insolvent four months ago. Communities United, which had just 1,900 members and $2.3 million in assets, was in and out of financial trouble over the past few years, which were marked by public please for financial assistance from credit unions.
Great Plains has $225 million in assets and 11 branches in Kansas, Missouri and Texas.
Earnings Decline at FHLB Atlanta
ATLANTA-The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta reported net income for its first quarter declined 6%, to $95.8 million, due mainly to a drop in net interest income and other income.
The first quarter financials resulted in a dividend of 6.25%, down from 6.74% paid for the first quarter last year. The Atlanta Bank is one of the largest of the 12 FHLBs, by membership, and claims more than 1,200 members, including 135 credit unions.
Robber Gets 13 Years Behind Bars
WILKES-BARRE, Penn.-A 37-year-old local man was given a 13-year prison sentence for four area bank robberies, including two at credit unions. Keith Golomb, of Moutnaintop, Penn., pleaded guilty to the four robberies and one attempted robbery. The robberies included the Aug. 18 2006 hold-up at Wilkes-Barre Postal FCU, where he stole $12,000; and the Aug. 28 heist at Vantage Trust FCU, when he escaped with $7,050.
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