HOUSTON – The Houston Police Federal Credit Union is one of the top three credit unions in the country with 25,000 members. Almost everyone at the Houston Police Department along with retirees from the police department has their money here.
At the center of the investigation is a former executive staff member, who according to a letter, is being investigated for possibly embezzling money over a long period of time.
A letter addressed to members states there's no evidence any member accounts were involved. An internal audit uncovered the scheme.
The former executive is believed to have acted alone, allegedly creating a highly sophisticated system that skirted the redundant internal controls that are in place.
The investigation has found multiple potential fraud instances. "I got the letter also," Ray Hunt, President of the Houston Police Officer's Union said.
HPOU is one of the credit union's biggest customers to the tune of several million dollars. Hunt says he spoke to a member of the board of directors. "We are very proud they caught that with an internal audit and have no concerns about our funds that are there. we left all of our funds there and know that it is very solid," Hunt said.
A public relations firm released a statement on behalf of the credit union.
It reads, in part, "The credit union will be looking at it's policies and procedures to see what can be done to improve it's current security measures to prevent future incidents."
