$95M JAFCU Case Update: NCUA Says Stolen Funds Bought Luxury Home
By CU Today Staff —
JACKSON, Miss.—Federal regulators allege former Jackson Area Federal Credit Union CEO Leigh Bridges and her husband bought their Jackson home four days after transferring $1.227 million in allegedly stolen credit union funds to a real-estate firm, WLBT reported.
The NCUA board made the allegation while responding to the couple’s opposition to placing their property under a court-appointed trustee. According to WLBT, the regulator said more than $51 million in false entries concealed transfers from JAFCU’s general ledger into accounts belonging to Leigh Bridges between 2015 and her departure from the credit union.
“The evidence strongly suggests that the Sleepy Hollow residence was purchased with misappropriated funds and is therefore held in constructive trust for the benefit of JAFCU,” NCUA attorney Allyson Mills wrote, according to WLBT. “NCUAB seeks to protect that interest through the trustee motion.”
As CUToday.info reported earlier this week, Bridges called the NCUA’s spending to protect the property “unnecessary, wasteful, and wholly unwarranted” and said the residence was insured for $2.1 million. Mills responded that she has not received proof of that coverage and questioned whether it would adequately protect the home and its contents, which Bridges has valued at approximately $15 million. Mills also said the NCUA does not have access codes for the property’s Ring security system.
Leigh Bridges' husband, Chad Bridges, argued that appointing a trustee could deprive him of state-law defenses against a forced sale. The NCUA said it is not currently seeking to sell the property but questioned whether those defenses would apply. “In any event, those defenses are of little use when a property is purchased with stolen funds,” Mills wrote, according to WLBT.
The NCUA is suing Leigh and Chad Bridges and former JAFCU branch manager Tina Funez over the alleged embezzlement and misspending of as much as $95 million. Court records indicate Leigh Bridges is expected to face criminal charges, but WLBT reported that no bill of information or indictment was publicly available as of Friday.
Originally reported by CU Today.