$390,000 Embezzlement Case: Former Credit Union Worker Pleads Guilty to Fraud with Fake Money
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana announced today that Edward Arthur Nurse, 35, a former employee of Park Side Credit Union in Missoula, pleaded guilty to embezzling approximately $390,000 from the credit union’s vault and replacing the stolen funds with counterfeit cash.
Details of the Embezzlement Scheme
According to court documents, Nurse executed the fraud from July 2023 to June 2024 by swapping real cash with fake currency purchased from a supplier of prop money used in movies and entertainment productions.
In June 2024, another employee discovered that $340,000 in the credit union’s vault had been replaced with counterfeit bills. Financial records implicated Nurse as a suspect due to his responsibilities in managing the vault’s cash flow.
Suspicious Bank Activity and Casino Spending
Bank records revealed that Nurse had deposited $117,751 into his personal account over a span of seven months, with each deposit exceeding $10,000, as outlined in court filings.
Further investigation uncovered that Nurse spent over $56,000 in cash at a local casino between March and May 2024, yet he only cashed out approximately $8,000 during that time.
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Deceptive Claims and Counterfeit Currency Purchases
Despite Nurse’s assertions to an FBI agent that he had not made significant purchases or deposits other than a trip to Las Vegas, authorities uncovered evidence that he had purchased $410,000 in fake currency during the first half of 2024, having it delivered to a post office box registered in his name.
In July 2024, the Federal Reserve received about $50,000 in counterfeit bills from the credit union, which were traced back to the same prop money company used by Nurse.
Potential Sentencing and Consequences
Nurse faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine, and five years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. His guilty plea highlights the serious consequences of financial fraud and the importance of safeguarding financial institutions against internal theft.
