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Former Treasurer of St. Charles Borromeo Church Federal
Credit Union Sentenced to 37 Months in Prison for
Stealing Over $100,000 in Church Members’ Savings
LEV L. DASSIN, the Acting United States Attorney for
the Southern District of New York, and JOSEPH M. DEMAREST JR.,
the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation's New York Field Division ("FBI"), announced that
CHINITHIA BILLS, a/k/a "Chinithia Hamilton," a/k/a "Cynthia
Bells," the former Manager and Treasurer of the St. Charles
Borromeo Church Federal Credit Union, was sentenced to 37 months
in prison for stealing over $100,000 of church members' savings
and using it for her personal benefit. United States District
Judge GERARD E. LYNCH imposed the sentence in Manhattan federal
court.
According to the Complaint, the Indictment to which
BILLS pleaded guilty, other court documents in this case, and
statements made in court proceedings:
BILLS was employed as the Manager and Treasurer of the
St. Charles Borromeo Church Federal Credit Union ("Credit Union")
in Harlem. As part of her duties, BILLS was responsible for
managing deposits and issuing and cashing checks for over 200
members of St. Charles Borromeo Church who deposited their
savings at the Credit Union. BILLS was also responsible for
maintaining certain of the Credit Union's books and records.
From April 2003 to December 2005, BILLS engaged in an
extensive scheme to defraud the Credit Union. Among other
things, BILLS caused checks to be issued and drawn on Credit
Union funds for her personal use, including to pay BILLS's rent,
credit card, automobile insurance, cable television, cellular
telephone and other expenses, and to provide her husband and
herself with tens of thousands of dollars in cash. BILLS did so
by manipulating church members' accounts, creating a fictitious
member account, and improperly recording a variety of
transactions. By the time the fraud was uncovered in December
2005, BILLS had stolen over $100,000 in church members' savings.
The fraud resulted in the insolvency and collapse of the St.
Charles Borromeo Church Federal Credit Union.
In addition to the 37-month prison term, BILLS was
sentenced to four years of supervised release and restitution in
the amount of $135,218.96 to be paid to the National Credit Union
Association and its insurer.
In sentencing BILLS, Judge Lunch stated, "This crime is
extremely serious," adding that "[t]his was not a petty scheme or
impulsive theft" and that "the extent of the embezzlement
relative to the size of this institution was truly
extraordinary."
BILLS's sentence follows her guilty plea on January 23,
2009, to an Indictment charging her with one count of bank fraud.
Mr. DASSIN praised the work of the FBI in conducting
this investigation.
Assistant United States Attorney NICOLE W. FRIEDLANDER
is in charge of the prosecution.
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