TOLEDO, Ohio—Charles “Robb” Poore, the former CEO of Toledo Metro FCU, has been charged in U.S. District Court with embezzling more than $230,000 from the $43-million CU.
Poore was arrested Tuesday on a charge of theft and embezzlement for allegedly using his corporate credit card to make $233,933 in nonbusiness purchases between Dec. 20, 2011 and May 21, 2014, The Blade reported. Poore ran the credit union from September 2011 through July 2014, when he resigned.
Poore was arrested in Pittsburgh, where he appeared in federal court in the Western District of Pennsylvania and was released on a $25,000 appearance bond.
Last summer the CU’s board of directors discovered suspicious transactions on Poore’s corporate credit, an FBI affidavit stated.
Investigators said Poore’s purchased items, mainly office supplies, through his wife’s Amazon account from a third-party vendor and then immediately sold them at a significantly inflated cost to the credit union.
Toledo Metro’s current CEO, Daniel Zimolzak, told The Blade the credit union experienced only a small loss and its members’ money is insured and “was never in jeopardy.”
Zimolzak, who was hired nine months after Poore resigned, said the credit union also has adopted new procedures intended to prevent this type of theft.
“We know there is no 100%, foolproof way to avoid loss. That’s why you have controls in place. Someone figured out a way around them, so you put new controls in place,” he told The Blade.
A hearing for Poore in U.S. District Court in Toledo has not been scheduled.