St. Matthews Credit Union Manager Sentenced for Embezzlement

COLUMBIA, SC—United States Attorney W. Walter Wilkins stated today that Chandra Brooks Spigner, age 44, of Orangeburg, was sentenced today in federal court in Columbia for bank embezzlement, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 657. United States District Judge Margaret B. Seymour sentenced Spigner to 37 months imprisonment and ordered her to pay almost $400,000 in restitution to the victims.

Spigner was the branch manager for the St. Matthews branch of the CPM Federal Credit Union from August 2002 through June 2004. After Spigner left CPM on June 16, 2004, an internal investigation revealed that she had stolen $398,838.47 by creating fictitious loans in the names of members and non-members, and taking the loan proceeds for herself. She also added on to existing member loans, and in several instances made unauthorized withdrawals from members’ CDs. She attempted to conceal her thefts by occasionally making payments on the loans she created. She also stopped statements and past due notices from being sent out to members so they would not discover the unauthorized withdrawals or the new loans in their names.

The case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Winston D. Holliday, Jr., of the Columbia office handled the case.