On Deadline

Ent FCU Extends Offer To All Active Military

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.-Ent FCU said it has expanded benefits to all active deployed military members and their families to help relieve anxiety about basic financial services that are made difficult when far from home. Benefits include waiver of ATM fees at any AFFN or CO-OP Network ATM; free online banking, billpay and e-statements, free money orders and travelers checks, and more The credit union said it had been providing military benefits on a case-by-case basis. Ent FCU was originally chartered to serve Ent Air Force Base and Peterson Field.

Phishing Expedition Reels In LA Members

LOS ANGELES-Officials with University CU reported the credit union has become the victim of an online e-mail "phishing" scheme. Unknown perpetrators have been circulating a fraudulent notice purportedly from the credit union which directs recipients to the credit union's website and asks them for personal information, like credit card and account passwords. No members have been victimized yet and officials hope to minimize any success of the phishers by publicizing the scam.

2 Employees Charged In Scam

BATON ROUGE, La.-Two employees at Louisiana State University were charged will selling fraudulent loans. Brenda Hayes is accused of recruiting family members and friends to illegally obtain loans from Campus FCU. She allegedly sent her recruits to 27-year-old Tyra Guthrie, a loan officer at the credit union, who was charged with processing the loans. The two allegedly falsified employment documents to qualify their friends for the loans in exchange for commissions. As many as two-dozen others are expected to be charged in the scheme.

RISDIC Losses Continue

PROVIDENCE, R.I.-The state cannot collect on 11 RISDIC loans totaling almost $15 million from a local developer hoping to buy the downtown Westin Hotel complex because the 10-year statute of limitations has run out on the loans, state authorities concluded. But state officials can still pursue a single loan of $3 million owed by James Procaccianti, because that loan has been the subject of litigation, according to the Rhode Island Department of Administration. Procaccianti, president of the Cranston-based Procaccianti Group, is trying to resolve 14-year-old claims concerning loans he had with Marquette CU, which went under along with 28 other CUs insured by Rhode Island Deposit and Indemnity Corp., in order to get clearance from the state for the $95.5-million hotel purchase. If successful in the lawsuit, the state could recover as much as $6.5 million on the $3 million loan, representing unpaid interest.

The Credit Union Journal's On Deadline coverage is sponsored by Liberty. For info: www.libertysite.com.

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