Former Assistant Branch Manager Of Credit Union Pleads Guilty To Embezzlement

Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that Male Yahaira Rivera (35, Orlando) today pleaded guilty to embezzlement from a federally insured credit union. She faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to court documents, Rivera was an Assistant Branch Manager of Fairwinds Credit Union. Over a period of about 10 months, she stole $258,000 in cash from the credit union.  Funds were taken on 16 separate occasions in amounts ranging from $2,000 to $40,000. Each of the thefts involved cash that was supposed to be deposited into an ATM machine or cash that was removed from an ATM machine.  Rivera used more than $44,000 as a partial payment for a Porsche.

This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg.