HOUSTON – A 56-year-old Prairie View woman has been indicted on charges of embezzlement from elderly customers, U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery announced Wednesday.
A federal grand jury returned the four-count indictment on Sept. 15.
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The charges allege that Gloria Jean Hall was a manager at Prairie View Federal Credit Union from February 2000 to August 2020. Beginning in 2010, she allegedly embezzled approximately $211,563 from elderly account holder funds. She created loans totaling nearly $791,000, withdrew the loans and cashed $76,772 in numerous unauthorized checks from accounts at the credit union for her own personal use and benefit, according to the indictment.
Hall allegedly fraudulently formed 58 nominee loans by creating fake share loans in the names of relatives and friends. She transferred money across the loans to make payments among them, according to the charges. She also allegedly created fake monthly loan statements and moved funds mainly from elderly credit union members into the accounts of her relatives and friends.
Hall has been charged with three counts of embezzlement by a credit union employee and one count of making false entries in the financial records of the credit union.
If convicted, Hall faces up to 30 years in prison and a possible $1 million maximum fine.
The credit union existed for approximately 85 years. It was one of the oldest continually operational federal credit unions established by a historically Black college and university in the United States until its failure and merger with the Cy-Fair Federal Credit Union in early 2022, according to the release.