LAKEWOOD – A Lakewood woman who pleaded guilty to a protracted embezzlement scheme which resulted in the failure of a credit union was sentenced last week to 21 months in federal prison. In addition to the prison term, Judge James Selna also ordered 50-year-old Wendy Wall to four years of supervised release, including one year of home confinement. She also was ordered to pay $480,273 in restitution.

Wall pleaded guilty to bank fraud last September for engaging in the embezzlement scheme while working at Pepsi Cola Federal Credit Union.

Beginning in 1993 and continuing to February 2014, Wall was the manager and sole employee at the credit union, a small financial institution in Orange County that served local Pepsi Bottling Company employees. Over the course of more than a decade, Wall used her position to create ficitious bank accounts and withdrew funds against those accounts by creating phony loans and writing checks using the accounts.

Wall then deposited the money into bank accounts belonging to herself or family members.

The scheme was discovered following an audit by the National Credit Union Association, whose personnel contacted the FBI to investigate further.

The embezzlement scheme led to the eventual failure of the Pepsi Cola Federal Credit Union, though members were protected against losses by the National Credit Union Administration.

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Published: Jan. 29, 2015 - Volume 13 - Issue 42