NORTH MINNEAPOLIS, Minn.–Two key people involved in efforts to found Village Financial Credit Union to serve this city’s black community have been terminated from their posts, which could put in jeopardy the new CU’s ability to meet a deadline that would allow it to qualify for $500,000 in city funds.
The two people, Me’Lea Connelly and Joe Riemann, were terminated due to allegations of fraud and mismanagement, according to the Star-Tribune. Connelly is executive director of the nonprofit Association for Black Economic Power (ABEP), which Riemann was CFO. Both have also played primary roles in helping to get the credit union launched.
Connelly and Riemann denied any wrongdoing in interviews with the Star-Tribune.
As CUToday.info reported here, organizers of Village Financial have been working for some time to charter and launch the only financial institution in the state owned and operated by African-Americans. The City Council said $410,000 of the city's $500,000 commitment will come in the form of a loan that is forgivable in 10 years if the credit union meets specific goals.
Nearly 2,000 People Sign Up
In March of this year, organizers of the CU said the credit union already has 1,700 people who've pledged $4.25 million to become potential members. At that time, plans had called for doors to open in June.
Connelly has been serving as the public face for Village Financial, which was intended to promote economic empowerment in the black community, the Start Tribune.
The Star Tribune reported that in a statement, ABEP’s board of directors said that Connelly was “terminated as a result of the Board’s concerns around organizational mismanagement, misconduct in regard to the organization’s finances and credit union application process, along with failure to meet day-to-day organizational expectations.”
Seeking to be Transparent
Board member Malcolm Wells told Minnesota Public Radio the rest of the board and staff want to be as transparent as possible with community members and investors.
“We went to our key internal stakeholders earlier this month and let them know what was going on, and we’ve had to respond to partners and people who’ve put forth a lot of money and a lot of time and resources for seeing this through,” Minnesota Public Radio quoted him as saying.
Wells said the credit union will still continue to move forward with plans to open by the end of the year. He told the news outlet the initial allegation was first reported to the board by an employee of the credit union.
A spokesperson with the Minneapolis Police Department said police received a report and are reviewing it.