WICHITA, Kan.–A former CU manager charged with stealing more than $5 million, an auto dealer charged with creating fake vehicles, and a former CU employee charged with taking money from a member’s account have all been in court this week.
In Wichita, Nita Rae Nirschl has told the court she plans to change her plea in a case in which she is charged with stealing more than $5 million from the now defunct Parsons Pittsburg Credit Union in Parsons, Kan. Nirschl was scheduled to go to trial on Jan. 30 as part of an 81-count federal indictment of embezzlement and money laundering that alleges she took the more than $5 million. The credit union was liquidated in March 2014. Nirschl had originally entered a plea of not guilty.
In Bossier City, La., Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook said Larry Wayne Toms, 41, has pleaded guilty Tuesday to taking out loans totaling $177,000 for three cars that didn’t exist.
Toms, a car dealer, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud for submitting fraudulent loan applications for the purchase of three cars from June 1, 2015 to July 23, 2015 to the Post Office Employees FCU in Shreveport, and the credit union disbursed $177,000 to Toms. The three vehicles listed in loan applications did not exist, authorities said.
Toms faces up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a $1 million fine. The court set a sentencing date of March 23, 2018.
In Denver, Claudette Retana, who formerly managed the Mt. Carmel, Colo., branch of Security Service FCU, has been charged with stealing more than $125,000 from a 91-year-old member’s account.
Appearing in U.S. District Court in Denver, Retana has entered a plea of not guilty to charges of fraud. According to the indictment, Retana took money from the members’ accounts more than 50 times between 2009 and 2017. The indictment then alleges Retana hid the theft by showing the member phony records. Retana, 66, has been released on a $25,000 unsecured bond.
Retana hid her theft from the customer by showing phony records of her accounts, the indictment states.