A former employee of Neches Federal Credit Union has been handed a 34-month sentence for his role in a bank fraud conspiracy. Billy Ray Thomas, Jr., a 40-year-old man from Winnie, was sentenced after pleading guilty to the charge, as announced by Acting U.S. Attorney Abe McGlothin, Jr. According to court documents, Thomas was ordered to pay restitution totaling $1,363,825.18, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office release.
Thomas's scheme first came to light when credit union members reported unauthorized loans in their accounts. Thomas, during his tenure as an assistant branch manager at NFCU, manipulated the trust placed in him by customers to facilitate fraudulent activity, this, resulting in estimated losses of over $1 million.
Thomas's association with fraudulent activities was discovered following complaints from approximately 30 NFCU members, linked to Thomas, starting September 6, 2018. Investigations unveiled that Thomas was collaborating with another individual, using unsuspecting family members and acquaintances as borrowers for the bogus loans. Victims reported being oblivious to the terms they were signing off on, some having entrusted Thomas enough to sign documents he presented on a tablet.
Alongside the FBI’s Beaumont Field Office and the Beaumont Police Department, Assistant U.S. Attorney Reynaldo P. Morin prosecuted the case. Thomas, who began working at the NFCU on May 16, 2005, at the Pearl Street Branch in Beaumont, resigned from his position on September 18, 2018, after the allegations surfaced. His fraudulent dealings, spanning an undisclosed period, has brought a significant blow to the financial standings of the credit union and its members.
