CARMEL, Ind. — A former credit union employee has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison after pleading guilty to participating in a scheme that stole $2 million from members.
The credit union involved was not identified in court documents.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana, Jose Prado-Valero, 35, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt to 33 months in federal prison and two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to financial institution fraud. Prado-Valero was also charged to pay $2,132,517 in restitution fees as part of his sentencing.
Was Automated Clearinghouse Coordinator
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Prado-Valero worked at the credit union as an automated clearing house coordinator between 2016 and 2019, with responsibilities that included overseeing transactions in and out of accounts belonging to members.
“The role saw him have access to Social Security numbers and other important information, including dates of birth, home addresses and telephone numbers,” the U.S. Attorney said.
According to a statement, Investigators determined that Prado-Valero was approached sometime before Feb. 14, 2019, by individuals looking to launch a plan to defraud the institution and steal money from existing member accounts.
‘Used Position of Trust’
The U.S. attorney said Prado-Valero agreed to join the scheme and “used his position of trust at the credit union to access members’ account information and steal their money.”
Prado-Valero and accomplices allegedly completed 34 different transfers from members’ accounts totaling $2,078,725 between Feb. 14, 2019, and Aug. 16, 2019, court documents said.
During this time, Prado-Valero was allegedly compensated more than $100,000, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
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