By Christian Mullins
Executive Summary:
Visterra CU and CU of Southern California have agreed to merge, with a completion date set for mid to late summer. The credit unions are about equal in size and will give the combined CU almost $1 billion in assets. CU of SC CEO Dave Gunderson will retain his title, while Visterra CU CEO Robert Cameron will serve as President. The combined CU will retain the name Visterra.
Text message phishing scams have found their way into Arizona Central and Oregon Community Credit Unions (separate article). Oregon Community CU estimated that 2,000 of their members were sent text messages before the CU opened, asking members to call a certain phone number. At this time, about 100 members are known to have called. Members averaged 2-3 fraudulent charges for about $200 per charge. Arizona Central CU statistics were not available.
In a move that should come as a surprise to no one, many financial institutions are tightening their credit standards as they face higher than normal loan loss. (Editor’s Note: Expect this trend to continue until those banks and credit unions face an unfavorable loan to deposit ratio, at which time policies should begin to ease.)
Robbed:
- Coastal FCU, Concord, North Carolina, Friday. A man entered the credit union Friday afternoon, demanded money, and fled on foot with an undisclosed amount of cash. No weapon was shown and no one was injured. This is the second robbery of a Coastal FCU branch three days.
Arrested, Arraigned, Charged, or Sentenced:
- Linda Zech of Spencer, Iowa, will serve more than five years in prison for the theft of $770,000 from Eaton Employees Credit Union. A former employee of the credit union, she was convicted of cutting fraudulent checks, disbursing fraudulent loans to family members and other third parties, and taking cash deposited by credit union members. The theft occurred between January 2003 and January 2007.
- The lollipop bandit has been arrested. After helping himself to a free sucker, Tyson James allegedly robbed the Transwest CU in Magna, Utah on April 14th. Tips from acquaintances who recognized his face in surveillance photos led to his arrest on April 18.
- On Friday, Daniel George Corring allegedly walked into a Kessler FCU in Mississippi with an automatic rifle, took two staff as hostages and led the police on a high speed chase. Driven by one of the hostages, Corring’s car lost control and went into a ditch. Corring was apprehended and no one was injured.
- John Snuggs was charged Friday with the October 2007 robbery of Lopatcong Twp., Pennsylvania Baker FCU. He was also charged with various additional robberies, including two banks.
