An alleged embezzlement of more than $2.2 million from a Winslow, Ariz., credit union has earned a former worker a prohibition from further service at any federally insured financial institution, the federal regulator said Tuesday.
In a release, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) said it had ordered the prohibition against Susan Irene Romero, a former employee of Winslow Santa Fe Credit Union for allegedly misappropriating approximately $2.205 million from the credit union. The credit union, as of year-end 2021, held $17.9 million in assets.
The agency charged that Romero accomplished that through various means, such as: unauthorized cash withdrawals, credit union checks with forged signatures, and transfers to accounts associated with members of her family.
The order was first issued in June of 2021, but NCUA finalized it just this month (May 9).
The agency said it also finalized another order and a notice of prohibition in May:
- An order against Vanessa Fletcher, a former worker at Alaska USA Federal Credit Union in Anchorage (with $10.8 billion in assets), for allegedly using a credit union member’s debit card without authorization for purchases of $181.69;
- A notice of prohibition against Diamond Hamilton, a former employee of Suncoast Credit Union in Tampa, Fla. ($15.3 billion), following his sentencing in federal court on charges of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Both actions would preclude either individual from working at a federally insured financial institution without advance approval by the NCUA and the prudential regulator of another federal financial institution regulator.