Former Teller Gets Three Years For $1.5M Credit Union Embezzlement
By CU Today Staff —
SIOUX CITY, Iowa—A former Consumer Credit Union head teller was sentenced to three years in federal prison for participating in an embezzlement scheme that stole nearly $1.5 million and forced the Denison, Iowa-based credit union into insolvency, The Gazette reported.
Brenda Jensen, 53, of Denison, previously pleaded guilty to credit union embezzlement. According to The Gazette, Jensen admitted taking money from May 2012 through March 2018 with at least one other employee, including her sister, former credit union CEO Janine Keim.
Jensen concealed the theft for years by overstating the credit union’s general-ledger balance and creating fictitious deposits to her personal accounts, causing $922,480 in losses, The Gazette reported. The employees later developed an internal check-kiting scheme that produced another $539,000 in losses.
The theft reduced the credit union’s assets by more than $1 million and resulted in its forced merger with SAC Federal Credit Union, according to The Gazette. Former board members told the court the failure harmed the community, where the credit union had provided emergency credit to people unable to obtain loans elsewhere.
U.S. District Chief Judge Leonard Strand also ordered Jensen to pay more than $1.4 million in restitution and serve two years of supervised release, The Gazette reported. Keim pleaded guilty to falsifying financial records to conceal the theft.
Originally reported by CU Today.