ALEXANDRIA, Va. –Six people, including two former CU CEOs, have been banned from credit unions by NCUA.

Four of the individuals were issued consent orders and two people received prohibition orders. The individuals named below are prohibited from participating in the affairs of any federally insured depository institution.

Consent Prohibition Order

Issued Consent Orders were:

Lindsay Risinger, the former CEO of Barton Plan Employees FCU in Luling, Louisiana, who also served on the league’s board at one point. 

Risinger was arrested by the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office on an embezzlement charge on Nove. 30 of 2023. 

Stephen Hopkins, a former employee of HealthPlus FCU in Jackson, Miss. 

In 2023, Hopkins was sentenced to a pre-trial intervention program instead of prison for allegedly embezzling $15,000 from the credit union following unique circumstances that led to his arrest. Hopkins was arrested in June of 2022 in Ridgeland, Miss. while then working for the county after he was involved in a car accident. While police were running a background check it was discovered he had been indicted in October of 2021 for the alleged theft. Police said the arrest took so long—even though Hopkins was a county employee—because they prioritize arrests of violent criminals.

Edward Nurse, a former employee of Park Side Financial Credit Union in Whitefish, Mont. 

Nurse admitted to embezzling approximately $389,000 from the credit union’s vault by swapping real money with fake prop money that is used in movies and TV shows. Nurse pleaded guilty and was sentenced earlier this week to six months in prison followed by five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $389,000 in restitution,

The CU Daily has additional information on that case here.

Nadaje Hendrix, a former employee of Hanscom Federal Credit Union in Middlesex, Mass.

 According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, on Oct. 4, 2024 Hendrix was convicted of  conspiring to defraud Hanscom FCU where she worked as a loan officer by obtaining loans in the names of inmates at a Massachusetts prison where a co-conspirator was incarcerated.

 Hendrix, 27, of Brighton, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Julia E. Kobick to eight months in prison to be followed by three years’ supervised release. Hendrix was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $134,000. 

The U.S. Attorney noted that in July 2024, Hendrix pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. In January 2024, Hendrix was indicted by a federal grand jury along with alleged co-conspirator Glenroy Miller

“Between December 2019 and August 2021, Hendrix and, allegedly, Miller agreed to defraud the credit union where Hendrix worked as a loan officer and assistant branch manager, by obtaining loans in the names of other individuals, including inmates at a Massachusetts prison where Miller was incarcerated,” the U.S. Attorney said. “While in prison, Miller allegedly gave Hendrix information about fellow inmates for Hendrix to use in creating fraudulent loan applications, and then arranged to have other co-conspirators go into the credit union to pretend to be the inmates, sign loan forms and obtain loans from the credit union through Hendrix.”

The U.S. Attorney added the scheme also involved obtaining loans in the names of individuals whose identities were stolen. In total, Hendrix and, allegedly, Miller stole about $134,000 from the credit union in about two months in 2021.

Notice of Prohibition

Issued a Notice of Prohibition were:

Jovan Eric Bell, a former employee of Navy Federal Credit Union in Vienna, Va.

Bell was one of two employees (the other is below) convicted for running a fraud scheme at a branch of Navy FCU that also involved three people outside the credit union who helped to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars. Bell provided the names and other personal identifying information of Navy FCU members that was then used by outsiders to impersonate the members and steal funds.  

Jalen Craig McMillan, a former employee of Navy Federal Credit Union in Vienna, Va.

McMillan was convicted of being part of the same scheme as Bell, as reported above. 

About the Actions Taken

NCUA said the three most common orders issued by the NCUA include:

• An Order to Cease and Desist, which requires an institution or individual to take action (or refrain from taking action), including making restitution
• An Order of Prohibition, which prohibits an individual from ever working for a federally insured financial institution
• An Order Assessing Civil Money Penalties, which requires an institution or individual to pay an assessed penalty amount