Scappoose Woman Sentenced for Bank LarcenyJade Carnahan convicted of embezzling $400,000 from local credit union

PORTLAND, Ore. – Jade Carnahan, 35, of Scappoose, Oregon, was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Marco A. Hernandez to 18 months in prison for the crime of bank larceny.  In addition to her prison term, the Court also ordered Carnahan to serve three years of supervised release following her release from prison and to repay $408,062.38 in restitution.

Carnahan was the Operations Officer at the Rivergate Federal Credit Union located on N. Ramsey Blvd in Portland, Oregon.  In that capacity, she had access to customer account information.  Between 2005 and 2012, she embezzled more than $400,000 from the bank vault and from customer accounts, including elderly customers, converting the money to her own use. At sentencing, Carnahan blamed an addiction on pain medication in accepting responsibility for her crime.

“Customers depend on the employees of their local credit unions to guard their money, not steal it,” said U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall.  “Crimes like this are especially offensive when perpetrated against seniors and have a lasting effect on the trust we place in our financial institutions.”

“Drug abuse helps to drive crimes of opportunity,” said Gregory Fowler, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oregon. “In this case, the defendant was in a position of trust to guard her bank’s funds and those of its customers.  She broke that trust, using her access as a bank employee to feed a drug habit.  Addiction to prescription pain killers can be just as devastating as street drugs, such as crack and heroin.”

 The investigation was initiated by the Portland office of the FBI.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug.