PHOENIX – Yesterday’s scheduled sentencing for the key witness in the AEA FCU member business loans trial – which has turned contentious – was rescheduled for April 9 by a federal judge.
The delay comes as the NCUA conservator in the case has expressed opposition to a lenient sentence the U.S. Justice Department is asking for Frank Ruiz, the Yuma developer who paid the credit union’s MBLs chief, William Liddle, $1 million in bribes to obtain $50 million in loans.
NCUA has criticized the recommendation by federal prosecutors, who used Ruiz to testify against Liddle, for a one-year prison term. The NCUA conservator said he thought a longer term of as long as 10 years would be more appropriate.
Liddle was convicted of 54 counts of fraud, bribery and money laundering. He is scheduled to be sentenced in May.
Meantime Liddle’s wife, Rhonda Liddle, who was convicted of laundering the Ruiz bribes, has asked for a mistrial based on testimony given by an FBI agent who tried to recruit her to testify against her husband.
The MBLs fraud sank the one-time $410-million credit union and left it with negative capital of $18 million. AEA, formerly known as Arizona Education Association Credit Union, is only continuing operating because of an emergency $20 million loan from NCUA.
