ALEXANDRIA, Va.–NCUA has issued two prohibition orders and one notice of prohibition in May. These individuals are prohibited from participating in the affairs of any federally insured depository institution.
Issued the prohibition orders were:
- Susan Romero, the former CEO of Winslow Santa Fe Credit Union in Winslow, Ariz., who agreed and consented to the issuance of a prohibition order and agreed to comply with all its terms to settle and resolve the NCUA Board’s claim against her.
Romero was sentenced earlier this year to 26 months in prison for embezzling more than $2.2 million from the credit union. The embezzlement was discovered after a routine audit. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Romero, 64, had worked for the WSFCU for more than 30 years. She had entered a guilty plea to one count of embezzling funds, after saying she stole money by making unauthorized cash withdrawals, forging checks, and transferring money from the credit union to her family members' accounts.
Prosecutors said Romero covered the crimes by using false entries in the financial statements.
- Vanessa Fletcher, a former employee of Alaska USA FCU in Anchorage, who agreed and consented to the issuance of a prohibition order and agreed to comply with all its terms to settle and resolve the NCUA board’s claim against her.
Notice of Prohibition:
Issued the Notice of Prohibition was:
- Diamond Hamilton, a former employee of Suncoast Credit Union in Tampa. In 2021, U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday sentenced Hamilton, 23, to two years in federal prison for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Hamilton had earlier entered a guilty plea.
According to court documents, Hamilton and others engaged in a scheme to defraud the credit union by fraudulently obtaining money under the credit union’s control.
“To accomplish the scheme, Hamilton accessed bank account information of the Credit Union 1 victim account holders without the account holders’ knowledge or permission and added email addresses controlled by other conspirators in the scheme,” prosecutors said.
Hamilton also added and/or changed online passwords associated with the victims’ accounts, then caused funds to be transferred from the victim account holders’ bank accounts to accounts controlled by her and other co-conspirators. Afterwards, the funds were subsequently withdrawn and shared amongst the conspirators.”
Agency enforcement orders and notices are searchable by name, institution, city, state, and year at the NCUA’s Administrative Orders webpage.