COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—A former assistant manager at Harrison District 2 Federal Credit Union has been charged with stealing nearly $80,000—some of it via her home computer.
The theft, authorities allege, occurred from 2008-20014. Investigators are alleging that Rhoda Pohina, 38, manipulated financial records to cover her tracks partly through the use of an unmonitored home computer that granted her access to the credit union's operating databases without tracking her activities.
"The lack of control and checks and balances relating to this type of issue rests solely with the credit union," Colorado Springs police detective Joshua Bliss said in an arrest affidavit, which was reported by The Gazette. Granting Pohina unmonitored access from her home computer "allowed Ms. Pohina the opportunity to commit fraud," Bliss alleged.
Pohina is charged with one count of theft of more than $20,000, a felony punishable by up to 12 years in prison but normally results in probationary sentences for first-time offenders, the newspaper said. Pohina is free on $3,000 bond awaiting a Nov. 9 plea hearing.
Pohina left the $14-million credit union in 2014. She was hired by Harrison School District 2 in 2014 as a communications assistant, the Gazette reported.
According to the Gazette, when Pohina worked at the credit union she was in charge of monitoring Visa cash advances to credit union members and processing their return payments. Police alleged they documented "dozens" of transactions in which Pohina made cash advances totaling $78,884 to a Visa account under her control but did not repay them. Instead, they allege she issued "fictitious" daily settlement reports that showed the advances were all covered, the newspaper reported.
The investigation began when a regular annual audit found irregularities in the books in December 2013, according to the Gazette.