FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Sept. 19, 2011
BLUEFIELD 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
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. – Pamela Mullins, 46, of Bluefield, West Virginia, was sentenced today to 30 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, formerly located in Bluefield. Mullins, a former employee of the credit union, admitted that beginning in 2003, she embezzled money using various schemes which included the creation of fictitious deposits into her personal checking account and accounts of family members. The deposits were fictitious in that no funds were received by the credit union to support the deposits. Mullins admitted that she subsequently 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. Mullins 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.
During the bank fraud scheme, the defendant was aided and abetted by former co-worker, Rebecca Poe.
Poe, 36, of Falls Mills, Virginia, was sentenced in June to four years and three months in federal prison for her role in the scheme.
In addition to her prison sentence, Mullins was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,406,804.
The National Credit Union Administration Board placed the N&W Poca Division Federal Credit Union into involuntary liquidation in October 2008.
Assistant United States Attorney Susan M. Robinson, Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s White Collar Crime Unit, handled 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.
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