Legal issues and news

SEATTLE – A leader of a Canadian group that skimmed ATM cards at Vancouver–area Starbucks and Dirty Apron cafes, then created counterfeit cards used to withdraw as much as $400,000 from Seattle ATMs, was arrested here last week and charged with bank fraud.

PHILADELPHIA – A former director of Borinquen FCU was indicted today on charges he intentionally overdrafted his accounts by more than $500,000 to purchase local real estate, contributing to the 2011 failure of the $7 million community development credit union.

JACKSON, Mich. – A former branch manager at EECU, A Community Credit union, was sentenced this afternoon to a year in jail for withdrawing $194,000 in unauthorized funds from the accounts of six elderly members, but could serve as little as 90 days after she paid full restitution right before sentencing.

BOISE, Idaho – A Las Vegas man was indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday on charges of stealing three ATMs holding more than $56,000 from local college campuses, including two owned by Idaho State University FCU.

CLEVELAND – A federal judge this morning sentenced local financier A. Eddy Zai to seven years and three months in prison for his role in the massive loan fraud that caused the 2010 collapse of St. Paul Croatian FCU.

ANCHORAGE – Prominent real estate developer Lee Baker, Jr., known locally as “The Condo King,” was sentenced yesterday to three years behind bars for a lying to Denali Alaskan FCU to obtain as much as $9.4 million in member business loans to finance a condominium development.

LONDON – A group of Islamist hackers who launched distributed denial of service attacks against U.S. banks and credit unions over the past few weeks said it has suspended the DDoS campaign after YouTube agreed to pull an objectionable video.

FORT MYERS, Fla. – A state appeals court Friday upheld a lower court ruling and cleared the way for NCUA to foreclose on home loans made by Michigan’s Huron River Area CU as part of the “Millionaire University” get-rich scheme.

PHILLIPSBURG, N.J. – A teller at Baker FCU pleaded guilty last week to theft and forgery charges for stealing almost $74,000 from elderly members.

CLEVELAND – A former county commissioner and business partner of local financier A. Eddy Zai was sentenced last week to five years of supervised release and one day in prison for his part in the huge fraud case that led to the 2010 collapse of St. Paul Croatian FCU.

HARTFORD, Conn. – An investment accountant at United Nations FCU was sentenced to five months in prison for stealing more than $87,000 from the credit union by filing false medical claims.

CLEVELAND – Lawyers representing NCUA are putting the finishing touches on a restitution agreement with local financier A. Eddy Zai in the big fraud at St. Paul Croatian FCU that would pay the agency $21.3 million, the biggest restitution deal ever for the credit union regulator.

HOUSTON – A man convicted Monday of robbing the in-store branch of First Community CU in September is believed to be responsible for as many as five armed robberies at grocery store credit union and banks in the area.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Police are looking for a man they said grabbed two boxes of cash from an armored car employee who was replenishing OnPoint CU ATMs and quickly disappeared early Friday morning.

CLEVELAND – Two more local businessmen were charged last week in the massive fraud that led to the 2010 collapse of St. Paul Croatian FCU.

DETROIT -- A boxer whose bloody nose swab led to criminal charges was convicted Friday of a 2009 armed robbery at Monroe County Community CU in the town of Temperance.

TEMPERANCE, Mich. – The former manager and sole employee of tiny United Catholic CU pleaded guilty this morning to embezzling $2.1 million from the now-failed credit union, which never claimed more than $500,000 in assets, over more than 20 years.

CHARLESTON, S.C. – A state court yesterday approved a request from the South Carolina Revenue Department to notify credit unions and banks of the 3.3 million bank account numbers compromised when someone hacked department tax files, allowing the depositories to determine which accounts may be at risk.

MADISON, Wis. – Eight homeless men were arrested Tuesday and charged with cashing forged checks at local credit unions and banks on behalf of what police believe is an interstate ring.

AURORA, Ill. --Former Aurora Firefighters CU President Anne Schaal admitted in her divorce settlement that she spent $580,000 in marital assets on a gambling addiction she hid from her husband of 46 years.