LOUISVILLE, Ky.–A police officer and his wife are suing the Louisville Metro Police Officers Credit Union, claiming they were the victims of a scheme involving fake loans and misappropriated funds.
As CUToday.info reported here, in mid-December 2017 the $28.7-million LMPOCU was placed into conservatorship by NCUA, with the agency saying it was investigating an alleged theft(s) from member accounts. The FBI has also been investigating.
Now, members George and Heather Campos say they learned in November 2017 that multiple loans were opened in their names without their knowledge at the credit union, which serves about 3,500 members, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
In addition, the Camposes also allege that loans they had paid off showed outstanding balances, with one loan that George Campos had been paying down every two weeks allegedly showing it was three months delinquent.
The Courier-Journal quoted the Camposes' attorney, J. Allan Cobb, as saying NCUA's Director of Special Actions Mark Cantor has told him records "do not add up" and that the organization was finding "jaw-dropping stuff."
According to the lawsuit, "... The schemes being investigated were 'extremely convoluted' and 'done to conceal,' and affected 'a multitude of members.’”
Named as defendants in the suit are former Louisville Metro Police Officers CU VP Josephine Crowe as well as the credit union itself.
The Courier-Journal reported that members have been told Crowe has been suspended, but she has not been named by any investigating agency as a suspect and is not criminally charged.
The suit seeks class-action status, noting it’s unclear how many of the credit union's 3,500 members were affected.
Cobb added that because of the alleged financial fraud, the Camposes' credit score took a hit, according to the report.
"We don’t know how many members this affects," Cobb was quoted by the Courier-Journal as saying. "We don’t know how much money is at stake. We don't know how many members have had their credit negatively affected that needs to be fixed."
The suit further alleges they Camposes were not informed fully of the potential problem and that the CU has declined to share full information on the status of all their accounts.