Links in “Financial Crime”

Man dressed in Santa outfit and carrying a wrapped package passes teller a note suggesting the box was dangerous; suspect remains at large. [12/26]

The massive data breach at Target stores involving more than 90 million credit and debit cards may mean huge losses for credit unions.  The theft of the mag stripe data means that criminals have all of the information they need to manufacture new fraudulent cards to access member accounts. [12/20]

Banks lost $943 million to debit card fraud, 54% of all deposit account fraud, according to a recent ABA survey. [12/13]

United Recovery (UCR), a Florida-based collection firm used by a number of credit unions, is being sued by the Colorado Attorney General for allegedly faking collection documents. The AG claims that UCR used actual borrower data to falsify affidavits used to verify additional debt that were then sold to third party collectors. [12/12]

Named for the cuckoo bird, which lays its eggs in the nest of other bird species who unwittingly take care of them believing them to be their own, cuckoo smurfing is a complex money laundering scheme that looks to transfer funds through the bank accounts of innocent customers. Here are four steps in the cuckoo scheme process. [12/11]

The Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program's track record to date is putting community bankers in jail for acts of fraud, but it appears to be largely ignoring the big banks. Is this a case of going after the low-hanging fruit? [12/11]

The CU Times has reported on 35 cases of fraud in the past year with 75% of those cases involving credit union insiders. Here are summaries of the top 7 schemes from 2013 in which more than $40 million was stolen. [12/10]

California man's scheme of instructing homeowner clients to deed fractional interests in their homes to other individuals paid to file bankruptcy petitions in court in an effort to delay foreclosure proceedings nets him 10 months in federal prison. [12/6]

Former CEO Kenneth Williams of $268 million Infinity FCU was fired after 30 years when an audit found substantial evidence of his use of corporate funds for personal use. The credit union is now suing him stating that his $66,000 in charges in the past two years on his corporate credit card among other expenses constitutes conversion, unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud. Williams claims that the action is in retaliation for an age discrimination claim he filed prior to his dismissal. [12/6]

Here’s why it is so important to perform thorough due diligence before purchasing loan participation interests. $20 million Northern Piedmont FCU in Culpeper, VA, has filed a $1.7 million civil lawsuit against three former employees of the now-liquidated Lynrockten FCU. Northern Piedmont purchased loan participations from Lynrcten FCU in loans that were later determined to be fraudulent. The majority of the funds from the loan participation purchases allegedly ended up in the personal accounts of the former employees. [12/5]