Unsealed Complaint: CU Board Members Incurred Significant Expenses

An unsealed complaint states that multiple Board members at Municipal Credit Union (New York, NY), including Sylvia Ash, regularly incurred significant expenses each year paid by the credit union.

These expenses included conferences at foreign destinations, food and drink, and donations to charitable organizations of their choice.

The complaint states that Ash between 2012 and 2016 received annually tens of thousands of dollars in reimbursements and other benefits from the credit union.

Ash, who is charged with obstructing a Federal probe of Kam Wong the former CEO of Municipal CU, served on Municipal CU's Board from 2008 until she resigned on about August 15, 2016. From about May 2015 until her resignation, Ash was the Chair of the credit union's Board.

Kam Wong on December 2, 2018 pled guilty to embezzlement and impeding a criminal investigation into the embezzlement.

Pages 7 and 8 of the complaint outlined the benefits and gifts received by Ash.

For example, in 2015 Municipal Credit Union spent approximately $63,408 for the benefit of or at the direction of Ash. These expenses included airfare and hotels at multiple conferences for her and a guest in Cancun, Greek Isles, and San Juan. The credit union also paid for tickets to sporting events for Ash. in addition, Municipal Credit Union paid her phone and cable bills.

Even after she left the credit union Board, Ash continued to have her expenses paid by the credit union.

In October 2016, she attended a credit union conference in Las Vegas. The credit union paid her and a guest's expenses including 3 tickets to a Brittany Spear's concert.

In June 2017, Ash was a guest of another credit union Board member for a conference in Cuba of the Caribbean Confederation of Credit Unions. Her expenses were picked up by the credit union.

While Ash and her fellow board members were not paid, they were handsomely rewarded with significant in-kind benefits.

This is probably not an isolated instance. Credit union regulators need to examine the corporate governance practices of credit unions to ensure that credit union officials are not incurring excessive expenses.

Read the complaint.