Ousted Melrose Credit Union CEO gets lifetime ban

Alan Kaufman, the disgraced former CEO of Melrose Credit Union in New York, is among six individuals to receive a prohibition this month from the National Credit Union Administration. The list, issued on Friday, bars Kaufman and five others from participating in the affairs of any federally insured financial institution.

Earlier this summer Kaufman was charged with a variety of crimes in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, including bribery and conspiracy to commit bribery. NCUA said the agency's board issued a prohibition notice barring Kaufman from further participation in the industry after determining that “continued service or participation by Kaufman in a credit union’s operations may impair public confidence in federally insured credit unions.” Kaufman was fired in July 2016 and the NCUA board issued Kaufman a civil monetary penalty of $1 million last summer.

NCUA's move to ban Kaufman comes almost exactly one year after the regulator liquidated the credit union.

The other five receiving prohibitions this month are:

• Karen S. Buxton, a former employee of Decaur, Ill.-based ADM Credit Union, was sentenced on two counts of theft
• Christy R. Harrison, also known as Christy Wingate and Christy Hyde, a former employee of Jesup, Ga.-based Altamaha FCU, was sentenced on two counts of forgery
• Ginny A. Hughes, a former institution-affiliated party with Hampden, Maine-based Changing Seasons FCU, agreed and 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. Details of those claims were not released
• Kimberly Michelle Roberts, a former employee of Gainesville, Fla.-based My Healthcare FCU, pleaded guilty to 12 counts of embezzlement
• Doretha Denise Steward, a former employee of Fayetteville, N.C.-based Fayetteville Postal Credit Union, pleaded guilty to two counts of embezzlement.