VALDOSTA, Ga. — The former president of a Georgia credit union has been sentenced to serve four years in prison and ordered to repay $4.5 million in restitution after admitting to running a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme.
As CUToday.info reported earlier,Leah Lehman, 63, the former CEO of Southern Pine Credit Union, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft in late October of 2023.
In addition to the prison sentence she will serve two years of supervised release after getting out of prison, and also be required to pay $4,491,253.97 in restitution to Southern Pine Credit Union.
In the wake of the fraud scheme, which involved the creation of fake loans, Southern Pine CU was placed into conservatorship in 2020. But it exited regulator-control in 2022 and was returned to members. It currently has $33.1-million in assets and 1,402 members.
Additional Defendant
In addition to Lehman, Teresa Paulo, who was formerly with the credit union and also involved in the scheme, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft on Nov. 2, 2023.
Paulo faces a maximum of 30 years in prison for bank fraud, and a mandatory two years in prison in addition to any other prison term imposed for aggravated identity theft, followed by a maximum of five years of supervised release and a $1 million restitution order, according to prosecutors.
She is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11.
Neither woman is eligible for parole.
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