JACKSON, Miss.–A Mississippi Department of Insurance employee has been placed on administrative leave after being named in a $91 million embezzlement suit by the NCUA.
As the CU Daily reported here, Leigh Bridges, the former president and CEO of Jackson Area Federal Credit Union, and her husband, Chad Bridges, who worked for the Department of Insurance, have been sued in U.S. District Court for allegedly embezzling $91 million in funds from the Jackson Area Federal Credit Union (JAFCU).
According to the suit, Leigh Bridges transferred millions of dollars in JAFCU funds into her personal share account, which she then allegedly used to misappropriate at least $95 million from the institution over a period spanning several years, with the funds allegedly going to luxury jewelry, a grand piano, multiple properties, and more than $14 million in credit card charges.
After NCUA began investigating, Bridges allegedly closed out her account and began transferring JAFCU funds into her husband Chad Bridge’s share account, the suit states.
With Agency for More Than 20 Years
Chad Bridges was appointed director of the Financial and Market Regulation Division for the Department of Insurance in 2024, according to a 2024 release from the department cited by WLBT.
He had been with the agency since 2004.
Court records indicate Leigh Bridges was served personally at her home on Friday, May 29. A packet for Chad Bridges was left with the Insurance Commissioner’s Office that same days, WLBT reported.
Insurance Department officials said in a statement to WLBT that Bridges was on administrative leave pending further investigations, “due to issues not related to the Mississippi Insurance Department.”
The Insurance Department is not implicated in the case.
Additional details and allegations related to the case being brought by NCUA can be found here. The agency has placed Jackson Area FCU into conservatorship.
