FCU Embezzler Went More Than Four Years Without Discovery

Melissa Laliberte, former bookkeeper and convicted embezzler for the now defunct Meriden Franco American Federal Credit Union, went more than four years before anyone realized the extent of her theft.

According to court documents and NCUA records, Laliberte embezzled almost $744,000 from the credit union between January 2004 and July of 2008, when the NCUA closed the institution. At the time of the its closure, Meriden Franco-American had almost $338,000 in assets, suggesting that Lalibert had embezzled more than twice the credit union's assets.

According to court papers filed in the case, Lalibert diverted member's cash deposits for her own use, made checks out payable to herself or her own creditors and made direct cash withdrawals from the CU. She also failed to note withdrawals from her own accounts and those of her husband and presented false reports to the CU's board of directors, according to the documents.

The legal filings also revealed that, as the extent of the embezzlement grew, Lalibert succeeded in convincing five other CUs to invest a total of $400,000 in certificates of deposit with the CU. This infusion of cash enabled her to keep the embezzlement going past the time it would have otherwise been discovered, the documents said.