FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 21, 2011
VIRGINIA WOMAN SENTENCED TO PRISON ON FEDERAL BANK FRAUD CHARGES
$2.4 Million Fraud Scheme Contributed to the Failure of N&W Poca Division Federal Credit Union
Rebecca L. Poe, 36, of Falls Mills, Virginia, was sentenced today to four years and three months in prison by U.S. District Judge David A. Faber for her role in a $2.4 million credit union fraud scheme which resulted in the failure of the N&W Poca Division Federal Credit Union, located in Bluefield, West Virginia. Poe, a former employee of the credit union, embezzled money from 2003 to August 2008 through various schemes which included the creation of fictitious deposits into her account and accounts of family members. The deposits were fictitious in that no funds were received by the credit union to support the deposits. Poe then used these funds for her own personal use and benefit. The defendant also took money through credit union loans and posted fictitious payments to the loan accounts without the credit union receiving money. Poe further took money from the credit union by issuing official checks from the credit union to herself and family members, as well as to third parties to pay for her expenses without recording these checks in the books and records of the credit union.
At sentencing, the Court found that the defendant’s criminal conduct “substantially jeopardized the safety and soundness” of the institution. In addition to her prison sentence, Poe was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,406,804.
“My office will devote whatever time and resources are necessary to protect southern West Virginia’s financial institutions from crime,” said U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin. “Hardworking West Virginians depend on their credit unions and banks. Stealing from a credit union is an attack on the savings of everyone with an account there. I will not tolerate criminals who put innocent people’s financial security at risk.”
The National Credit Union Administration Board placed the N&W Poca Division Federal Credit Union into involuntary liquidation in October 2008.
Poe was aided and abetted by a former co-worker, Pamela Mullins. Mullins, 46, of Bluefield, West Virginia, has pleaded guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced on September 19, 2011.
Assistant United States Attorney Susan M. Robinson, Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s White Collar Crime Unit, is handling the prosecution.
This case is being prosecuted as part of President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The President established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.
