Macon Woman Pleads Guilty to Credit Union Embezzlement

MACON, GA—G.F. Peterman, III, the Acting United States Attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, announced today that on September 20, 2010, LISA R. COX, age 48, who resides in Macon, entered a plea of guilty to one (1) count of embezzlement by a credit union employee in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 657, and a single count of making a false entry in credit union records in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1006.

The defendant will be sentenced before the Honorable Marc T. Treadwell, Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia at a time to be determined by the court. The charges of embezzlement by a credit union employee and making a false entry in credit union records carry a possible maximum sentence of thirty (30) years’ imprisonment, and /or a possible maximum fine of $1,000,000.00 per count.

COX was employed by Mid South Federal Credit Union for approximately seventeen (17) years. The defendant was the head teller at the main office for Mid South Federal Credit Union located at

4810 Mercer University Drive, Macon, Georgia

. Her duties included: teller supervision, ordering currency from the Federal Reserve, making entries on teller drawer balance sheets, and making entries on the vault general ledger.

From on or about July 15, 2000 through May 7, 2007, COX embezzled funds, cash and currency from the vault, as well as teller drawers. To hide her embezzlement, COX would make false, fictitious, and fraudulent entries into various documents, including the teller drawer balance sheets and the general ledger for the vault. On May 8, 2007, Mid South Federal Credit Union conducted a surprise cash audit at its Mercer branch. At that time, the ledger indicated the vault contained $506,888 in coin. Specifically, an entry was made into the ledger indicating the vault contained $500,000 in nickels. The money was not in the vault. Subsequent examination of credit union records revealed a loss of approximately $624,608.00.

COX subsequently confessed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and admitted that she used the embezzled funds to gamble, take a European vacation, and make monthly payments on a motor vehicle. The charges against COX arose from an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Harry J. Fox, Jr.