VENTURA, Calif.–The former manager of Limoneira FCU has been sentenced to a year in prison after she was found guilty of using the credit union’s funds to pay her own personal bills and approved fraudulent wire transfers totaling nearly $250,000.
Tina Torres, 55, of Santa Paula, Calif. received a suspended sentence of six years and eight months in state prison. She will also be placed on felony probation for two years and her suspended sentence would be reinstituted if she violates the terms of her probation, according to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.
As CUToday.info reported earlier, in February Torres pleaded guilty to eight felony counts of grand theft, forgery and grand theft by embezzlement.
Led CU for Three Years
According to the D.A.’s Office, Torres was a manager at Limoneira FCU in Santa Paula from 2016 to 2019. In 2019, an audit revealed Torres paid more than $26,000 of her personal bills out of credit union accounts. She also approved more than $225,000 in unauthorized wire transfers over the years.
It was also found that she obtained an $80,000 line of credit in the credit union’s name and submitted altered bank statements to its board of directors in an attempt to conceal her fraudulent withdrawals, prosecutors said.
Torres was terminated in August 2019 following the audit.
Additional Charges
In addition to her eight felony counts, Torres also admitted to special allegations that she took advantage of a position of trust to commit the crime and caused an excessive loss of more than $100,000.
She’s been ordered to begin her sentence on May 10; if she fails to report, the suspended sentence will be reinstated, according to the District Attorney.
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