CEO Spent Millions Stolen From NY Credit Union On Lottery: Feds

NEW YORK, NY — The CEO of New York's oldest credit union allegedly stole millions of dollars from the institution he ran — then blew much of the money on lottery tickets, federal prosecutors said. Kam Wong, the chief executive and president of Municipal Credit Union, was arrested Tuesday and accused of employing several dubious methods to rake in the cash over about five years, the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office said.

The alleged scheme defrauded a credit union that serves more than 425,000 people, including employees of the city, state and federal governments, prosecutors said.

"Kam Wong allegedly stole money from the credit union’s earnings that were intended to reward the credit union’s members, not line Wong’s pockets," U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman said in a statement.

Wong's scheme, which ran from at least 2013 to January of this year, used several methods to take the credit union's money and then tried to cover up his actions, prosecutors said.

For one, Wong, of Valley Stream on Long Island, submitted several "sham" invoices for dental work that he never received or paid for, allowing him to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in reimbursements, prosecutors said.

He took a similar reimbursement for more than $25,000 worth of repairs to a Mercedes-Benz car the credit union leased for him even though insurance had already paid for them, according to a criminal complaint in the case.

In 2013, Wong used a business credit card to take cash out of Municipal Credit Union ATMs, claiming he was "testing" them, the complaint says. He also took tens of thousands of dollars in cash advances without giving any documentation; cashed in 320 days in "unused" sick leave; collected millions of dollars instead of getting disability insurance coverage; and had the credit union cover expenses for two of his friend's relatives who were hired as interns, according to prosecutors.

Wong deposited close to $6 million a credit union account from July 2013 to January 2018, much of which he earned from his alleged illegal conduct, the criminal complaint says.

He allegedly spent more than $3 million on New York lottery tickets and withdrew nearly $2 million from ATMs in that time period, according to the complaint.

Wong tried to justify some of the payments to the credit union's board members and federal agents after he learned about the investigation in January, prosecutors said, but the board placed him on leave the next month. His salary as of Jan. 1 was $684,137, according to the complaint.

Wong is charged with one count each of embezzlement from a federally insured credit union, bank fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. The first three charges each carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, while the identity theft charge comes with a mandatory two-year prison term, prosecutors said.

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