PHOENIX – Authorities are probing whether a knife wound suffered by William Liddle, former member business loan chief at AEA FCU, less than an hour before he was scheduled to be sentenced to prison was self-inflicted.
Sentencing for the former MBL chief, who is expected to draw a long prison sentence for his fraud, was delayed Monday afternoon after Liddle’s lawyer reported the one-time credit union executive had been hit on the head in his Phoenix back yard and woke up with a knife sticking in him. Investigators said a search of Liddle’s home found directions to his wife and family how to proceed in the case of his death.
Federal prosecutors have recommended a sentence of up to 20 years behind bars for Liddle.
Liddle’s wife, Rhonda Liddle, was sentenced for laundering $1 million in bribes William Liddle was paid in exchange for approving $60 million in fraudulent MBLs. She was sentenced to 12 months home incarceration so she can care for the couple’s two young daughters, nine and 13 years old.
William Liddle’s sentencing has been rescheduled for June 1.
The MBL fraud sunk the one-time $410-million credit union, chartered to serve the Arizona Education Association. It has been run under NCUA conservatorship since December 2010.
