Former Head Teller at Lynrocten Credit Union Pleads Guilty
Teresa Wieringo Humphries Admits Embezzling More Than $1 Million
| U.S. Attorney’s Office January 07, 2014 |
LYNCHBURG, VA—The former head teller of the Lynrocten Credit Union in Lynchburg pled guilty today in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Lynchburg to federal embezzlement charges.
Teresa Wieringo Humphries, 58, of Madison Heights, Virginia, waived her right to be indicted and pled guilty today to a one-count information charging her with embezzlement from a federal credit union.
“Ms. Humphries participated in a massive fraud scheme in which she stole over a million dollars from her employer by falsifying loan documents,” United States Attorney Timothy J. Heaphy said today. “Her brazen and persistent acts of fraud violated the trust placed in her by the Lynrocten Credit Union and its customers. This office will continue to vigorously investigate and prosecute instances of financial fraud and do our best to provide restitution to the victims of these crimes.”
According to evidence presented at today’s hearing by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel Bubar, Humphries had been the head teller at the Lynrocten Credit Union since the mid-1980s. Beginning in 2000 and continuing until the credit union’s liquidation, Humphries and the manager of the credit union carried out several schemes to embezzle and steal funds from the credit union’s deposits through the unauthorized and fraudulent origination of loans in the names of credit union members. She and the manager also used a check kiting scheme to obtain additional money of the credit union and conceal and facilitate the fraudulent loan scheme.
The funds created through both the loan and check writing schemes were eventually funneled to the Lynrocten Credit Union accounts of Humphries and the manager and their family members. Between 2007 and the liquidation of the Lynrocten Federal Credit Union in 2013, Humphries personally stole approximately $3,000 to $4,000 per month that she deposited into the accounts belonging to her family members. In total, Humphries stole in excess of $1 million from the Lynrocten Federal Credit Union. The overall loss to the credit union, however, was in excess of $7 million and contributed to the ultimate collapse of that financial institution.
At sentencing, Humphries faces a maximum possible penalty of up to 30 years in prison and/or a fine of up to $1 million.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Secret Service, and the Lynchburg Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Anthony Giorno and Daniel Bubar are prosecuting the case for the United States.