Former Credit Union Employee Admits to Her Role in a $2.4 Million Fraud Scheme
Crimes Contributed to the Failure of a Federal Credit Union

CHARLESTON, WV—A former employee of a federal credit union pleaded guilty yesterday to charges stemming from her role in a multi-million fraud scheme which contributed to the failure of the credit union. Pamela Mullins, 47, of Bluefield, West Virginia pleaded guilty before United States District Judge David A. Faber to a one-count information charging her with bank fraud. She faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine when sentenced on January 24, 2011.

In August, a federal grand jury sitting in Beckley, West Virginia returned an indictment against Mullins’ co-worker, Rebecca Poe, 35, of Falls Mills, Virginia. Mullins was named but not charged in the indictment. The indictment alleges that Poe, aided and abetted by Mullins, stole money from the N&W Poca Division Federal Credit Union located in Bluefield, West Virginia from 2003 to August 2008, through various schemes. The scheme resulted in the loss of $2.4 million dollars to the credit union contributing to its failure. On October 3, 2008, the National Credit Union Administration Board placed the N&W Poca Division Federal Credit Union into involuntary liquidation due to its insolvency.

Poe is scheduled to stand trial on October 19, 2010.

The investigation was conducted as a part of President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division.

President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

Assistant United States Attorney Susan M. Robinson, Chief of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s White Collar Crime Unit, is handling the prosecution.