Links in “Financial Crime”

Indictments are coming in for a massive loan fraud scheme that affected 21 institutions nationwide, including 15 credit unions. The scheme involved fake car dealerships in California, a network of straw borrowers, and falsified loan documents and is alleged to have netted the thieves between $1 million and $2.4 million dollars. [12/12/14]

Alex Spirikaitis, former CEO of the liquidated Taupa Lithuanian Credit Union, will have a long time to consider whether the money he stole was worth the price he now has to pay. A federal court has sentenced him to more than 10 years in federal prison and he has been ordered to pay restitution of $15 million. [12/2/14]

Five individuals have received orders prohibiting them from ever working at a federally insured financial institution again. But that’s not all; most of these ex-employees are also booking jail time and fines. [12/1/14]

Former president of MidCoast Community Bank in Delaware is sentenced to two years in prison for his role in a fraud and money laundering scheme in which he recruited customers to obtain loans, who then loaned proceeds back to him. [12/1/14]

Six tips to help your customers avoid falling for holiday shopping scams, such as being wary of emails for a deal that's too good to be true and not accessing online banking from public wifi networks. [11/25/14]

Target's attorneys argue that the retailer isn't responsible for reimbursing banks that claim to have lost millions of dollars after last year's hack because card payments are processed through third-party intermediaries. [11/24/14]

The CFPB's first criminal referral resulted in a nine-year sentence for Michael Levitis, whose company was found to commit crimes against desperate borrowers that resulted in marred credit reports, foreclosure, and bankruptcy. [11/21/14]

It first surfaced in 2006, but it appears to be back. Fraudsters are initiating wire transfers from HELOCs to construction companies after searching public records of new mortgage transactions to discover consumers with home equity lines of credit.  In some cases, the construction companies are shams; in other cases the companies are legitimate but are being used as “money mules.” Here are the common footprints to look for. [11/20/14]

NCUA attorneys have filed suit against Maria Hernandez, former CEO of the failed El Paso FCU to recover $19 million in funds she allegedly stole from the credit union.  According to the NCUA most of the stolen funds have been linked to unrecorded share certificates sold to non-member financial institutions that Hernandez converted for her personal use to purchase additional homes, to take lavish vacations and for gambling. [11/17/14]

St. Louis Community Credit Union experienced a strange break in last Tuesday morning—a masked man reportedly used a sledge hammer to create an opening in one of their brick walls. He walked in, walked around, and left (without taking anything). [11/12/14]