Two women who stole more than $250,000 out of a couple’s Palo Alto credit union account were sentenced in Santa Clara County Superior Court on Tuesday, Feb. 14, the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office announced Thursday, Feb. 16.
Pang Thao, 26, of Elk Grove, Calif., in March 2011 accessed a Los Altos couple’s certificate account located at Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union, now called First Tech Federal Credit Union. Thao was a call taker in Rocklin, Calif., for the Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union, which merged with Oregon-based First Tech in early 2011.
Prosecutors said Thao created a PIN number for online access without authorization. She closed out the victims’ account and transferred all of the funds, totaling over $256,000, to the account of her cousin, Nancy Vang, 27, of Sacramento.
Vang transferred most of the funds back to Thao and Thao’s immediate family members in April and May. Some of the stolen money appears to have been spent on shopping sprees at such stores as Walmart and Nordstrom, according to the district attorney’s office.
The victims, who were in their 70s, discovered their account had been emptied when they received their bank statement in May. They immediately reported the theft to the bank and police.
Judge Rene Navarro sentenced Thao to three years in prison for identity theft, computer hacking and elder fraud with an aggravated white-collar crime enhancement — all felonies. Vang was sentenced to one year in county jail for identity theft and grand theft with an aggravated white-collar crime enhancement, also felonies.
“It is outrageous that these women targeted an elderly couples’ life savings to buy extravagant things,” Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Deng said. “I hope their sentences show other potential thieves that this type of criminal behavior is not to be tolerated.”
The case was investigated by REACT, a Bay Area high-technology crimes and identity theft task force directed by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. REACT froze and recovered approximately $85,000 of the stolen funds and seized a 2007 Acura MDX, which was purchased with the illegally obtained funds, the DA’s office said.
Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union was formed in Palo Alto in 1956 by a group of Hewlett-Packard employees to serve employees in ways they thought were better than traditional banks.
Seven employees from Oregon-based Tektronix formed First Tech Credit Union with similar aims in 1952. The credit unions merged in early 2011 and now serve 326,000 members located in 50 states and in nearly 20 countries, according to its website. The bank has two branches in Cupertino.
Why was it so easy for them to access someone else’s bank account? Did one of them work at the bank? Or is the bank’s security so weak that they could access the account without any credentials? This kind of bank robbery sounds so much easier than walking into the office with a gun.
Yes, one of them worked at the bank. See paragraph 2.
Only one year? hahaha Wow that will teach them not to do it again.
It’s pretty easy to access an account if you’ve either got access to info because of your job, or can connect to an internal network with a protocol analyzer like a Network Sniffer.
I would not be happy if the IRS forgives these perpetrators the income tax due on $256,000. There should be an $80,000 lein following them around for the rest of their lives.
They will only serve half if that! wow white coller crimes need to be changed. I hope the elders get their money back! sounds like they could have money waiting once they are out!
Let me just say this. As a victim of another crime from another area. I never received the money that was stolen out of our accounts via forged checks. To top it off, the person who did it. Was never placed in jail, because she came forward after seeing her pic in our newspaper crime stopper ad. Oh, I was told it was only $1200.00
Aren’t such accounts insured? If so, against what hazards are they insured? Wouldn’t the credit be liable for the criminal acts of its employees? Don’t understand the situation.
1 and 3 years for stealing $250k from an elderly couple isn’t nearly enough. What lame judge is responsible for this?
If all of the crimes were felonies why isn’t she going to prison for life. Would she quality for the 3 strikes policy?
only 1 year and you get life if you smoke dope 3 times!
So, did the elderly couple get their acct reimbursed by the Credit Union??????
Hey, you steal a quarter million dollars, get a slap on the wrist, no restitution or tax liens or anything, and you’re out in a few months ready to do it again.
The worst thing about these crimes is that most people who do this are psychopaths: they have done it in the past and will do it over and over for their entire lives, causing great suffering to everyone they encounter. They’ll go to another city, steal another identity, and play the same game until they are caught there. Repeat for 50 years. And judges are taken in because the criminals seem repentant each time.
Was the money not insured by the FDIC?
“Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Deng said. “I hope their sentences show other potential thieves that this type of criminal behavior is not to be tolerated.” What a joke!!!!
Pang Thao, Nancy Vang,Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Deng and the inept Judge Rene Navarro should be thrown in jail together ’till they come out with a right sentence that fits the crime
I am a longtime Addison Avenue (now First Tech Federal) Credit Union customer. Within the past few months, they just started offering a limited capability for electronic alerts to report account activity by email and/or text message.
Why didn’t Addison Avenue Credit Union, now called First Tech Federal Credit Union, have procedures to detect the creation of a PIN number without authorization? Why didn’t the closure of an account exceeding $100,000, coupled with a transfer to an account held by someone other than the original owners, trigger an internal investigation by the Credit Union and/or by the National Credit Union Association (NCUA) immediately (or at least within 60 days)?
Why doesn’t First Tech Federal Credit Union offer electronic account alerts for Certificates of Deposit? Why can’t First Tech e-Alerts notify more than a single email account, and why can’t they offer unique, independent e-Alerts for each account, rather than a single threshold e-Alert that must apply across all accounts belonging to a credit union member?
Who says crime doesn’t pay?
Addison ave credit union customer, with all of those questions you should be second guessing the security of your money with this credit union. I really hope that the this poor couple gets their money back….. I bet the guy who robbed 711 (if caught) will do more time than these thieves…….Such a flawed system…..
My name is Deborah Colby and I am the VP of Marketing for First Tech Federal Credit Union. I’d like to take the opportunity to respond to a few of the items raised in the comments above.
Let me first assure everyone that our members affected by this fraud did not lose any money. First Tech replaced 100% of their funds.
For the privacy and security of our members, I cannot share in this forum specifically how the fraud occurred or what we specifically did to address it. I can share that we take our members privacy and security extremely seriously. We continually monitor our systems, processes and procedures for fraud and take immediate action when needed.
Unfortunately, in this case, it was one of our own employees who committed the fraud. The individual has since been terminated and we actively participated with local authorities to prosecute the parties involved.
Finally, I’d also like to address the questions around NCUA insurance. Just like FDIC insurance does for bank customers, NCUA insurance protects credit union members from losses up to $250,000 in situations where their credit union is deemed insolvent. NCUA insurance does not protect members’ assets from fraud perpetrated by other individuals.
From that perspective, most credit unions, including First Tech, carry separate insurance policies to protect their assets from fraud. Much like you pay auto insurance to protect your automobile in case of theft, loss or damage, First Tech carries insurance to protect itself from fraud, theft, etc. Once again, the members did receive 100% of their money back.
I appreciate the engaged discussion around this topic. Continual education and discussion makes us all more aware of how to protect ourselves.
Deborah Colby
First Tech Federal Credit Union
855.855.8805
firsttechfed.com
Thanks to Deborah Colby for explaining about the different kinds of insurance involved. It sounds like because First Tech is solvent, its equivalent of FDIC, NCUA, had no role to play. Also, it appears that First Teach was liable for the theft/fraud perpetrated by their employee, but that it carries another kind of insurance to cover the risk of loss resulting from fraud. In any case, it is a relief to know that the individual Credit Union members who were the initial victims of this fraud did not lose their savings. Many thanks for helping us understand the situation.