BOSTON – A real estate lawyer was sentenced Friday to 51 months in prison after pleading guilty to stealing more than $3 million in escrow funds he was holding for First Citizen’s FCU, Ocean Spray Employees’ FCU and several local banks.

WASHINGTON -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are expected to require less taxpayer aid and may be able to stop tapping government coffers as early as next year, their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said Friday.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Lower cost of funds and growing loan income helped propel the nation’s biggest credit unions to huge third quarter gains, but the biggest stimulus may have been provided by NCUA in the lowest assessments in four years.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA said this afternoon that Gail Laster, deputy chief counsel for the House Financial Services Committee, has been named director of the agency’s Office of Consumer Protection.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA announced this morning it is amending its 5300 Call Reports for December to eliminate the previous reporting for modified-loan information and replace it with Troubled Debt Restructuring information, as adopted in May.

WELLINGTON, Ohio -- Police are searching an armed man who robbed Sun Center FCU at gunpoint and ran off with more than $11,000 in a white trash bag.

CINCINNATI – Vantiv, which provides processing services for more than 800 credit unions, said this week it is teaming with Paydiant, a provider of a cloud-based mobile payment and offer redemption platforms to introduce a contactless mobile wallet and payment platform that will enable merchants and financial institutions to quickly deploy mobile payment and ad/offer campaigns for their customers.

WASHINGTON—Mortgage rates moved slightly higher this week from last week’s record lows, according to Freddie Mac.

ATLANTA – Credit bureau Equifax said yesterday that third quarters grew 17% to $77.9 million, fueled by stronger revenue in its consumer-information business.

CANTON, Ohio – Diebold Inc. said yesterday it is suspending plans to build a $100 million headquarters in nearby Green, Ohio, and is forfeiting tens of millions in tax breaks that would have covered the entire cost of the 500,000-square-foot building and corporate campus.

WASHINGTON – Agriculture FCU has contracted with Vertifi Software LLC to implement the CUSO’s DeposZip mobile remote deposit capture solution.

OGDEN, Utah – America First CU has signed with Experian to implement the company’s hosted decisioning solution that will help the credit union instantly make credit underwriting decisions on direct and indirect auto loans for new and used vehicles.

LAS VEGAS – Silver State Schools CU, the one-time billion-dollar credit union that is fighting through the state’s recession, said yesterday it had a $642,000 net for the third quarter, trimming its year-to-date losses to $1.6 million.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A local man was arrested and charged with using a stolen MidFlorida Community CU credit card to make a $1,000 down payment and drive off with a $12,000 used car last week.

WASHINGTON – CUNA has joined the campaign funding frenzy over the past six weeks, pouring forth increasing sums of contributions—almost $1.3 million—as the congressional elections grow nearer.

WASHINGTON – A key lawmaker has called on NCUA for information regarding lucrative fee arrangements NCUA has struck with several law firms representing the agency in multi-billion dollar civil suits against Wall Street banks over their sale of mortgage-backed securities to the five failed corporate credit unions.

WOODBURY, Minn. – Postal CU announced this morning that Brian Sherrick, its chief operating officer who joined the credit union as a college intern in 1984, has taken over as president and CEO of the $540 million credit union.

NEW YORK – A federal judge yesterday set an expedited schedule for opponents to air their concerns over the proposed Visa and MasterCard antitrust settlement, a move which could prove difficult to efforts to defeat the landmark deal.

SAN DIEGO – Outside “Super PACs,” including the credit union-backed Restoring Our Community, are pouring millions of dollars into the election for what is shaping up as one of the most expensive House races in the country, the state’s 52nd Congressional District, where long-time credit union champion Brian Bilbray is trying to navigate the state’s redistricting.

KAUKAUNA, Wis. – Unison CU has implemented eDOC Innovations’ of ProDOC Packages and eDOCSignature solutions.