Former FSU Credit Union Official Sentenced For $1.2 Million Bank Fraud, Aggravated Identity Theft, And Filing False Tax Returns

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA - Kevin Robert Lee, 35, of Tallahassee, was sentenced yesterdayto 66 months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to 20 counts of bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and theft from a lending institution, as well as three counts of filing a false tax return. The crimes involved more than $800,000 in theft. The sentence was announced by Lawrence Keefe, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

Between June 2014 and November 2017, Lee was the lending director of FSU Credit Union (FSUCU), a Tallahassee-based credit union. As lending director, Lee’s position allowed him to open new customer accounts and approve lines of credit. He also served as treasurer of the Tallahassee Chapter of Credit Unions (TCCU), a non-profit organization that advocates legislation favorable to credit unions. In 2014, Lee used the name, date of birth, and social security number of the President of TCCU to create a second fraudulent account for that organization. Lee used the original TCCU account for fraudulent activity while leaving the new account for legitimate TCCU transactions. Lee also created two accounts using the names, dates of birth, and social security numbers of his college roommates and used them as "intermediary accounts" into which funds stolen from FSUCU customers were deposited. Lee transferred funds from inactive customer accounts to pay down the lines of credit to the intermediary accounts he created or deposited them into TCCU’s original bank account. He also used the stolen funds to pay off personal credit cards, make mortgage and car payments, and pay for his children’s private school tuition. In total, Lee stole over $800,000 from the FSUCU. Additionally, in February 2016, March 2017, and March 2018, Lee filed tax returns in which he failed to claim as income the funds he stole from FSUCU.

"One of the most important assets of American financial institutions is customers’ faith in their integrity, and this defendant used his position of trust to steal their funds and the credit union’s reputation," Keefe said. "This sentence should send a clear message that anyone who tries to violate the public’s trust will end up paying severe consequences."

Lee was sentenced to 66 months years in federal prison, followed by 5 years supervised release. Additionally, he was ordered to pay $979,839.49 in restitution to the FSUCU and its insurance company, and to the United States Internal Revenue Service. Additionally, Lee was also ordered to pay $11,589.48 in prosecution costs to the United States Internal Revenue Service.

Assistant United States Attorney Justin M. Keen prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, after being alerted by FSU Credit Union. Mary Hammond, Special Agent in Charge, IRS-CI, Tampa Field Office said, "This case was an outstanding example of the kind of state and federal cooperation that puts criminals behind bars. The agents of the IRS will not allow criminals to undermine the public’s confidence in upstanding institutions through their abuse of positions of trust."

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html