Credit union manager convicted of passing on stolen $400,000 at Meadows casino
A former credit union manager in Roestraver Township, Pa., has been sentenced to 30 months in prison. She was convicted of embezzling $399,230 from her employer over a 15-year period and then setting a fire to cover her tracks.
Patty Lynn Mavrakis, 65, is the branch manager at Valley 1st Community Federal Credit Union in nearby Belle Vernon. She was also a strong player, according to prosecutors.
The court heard that in the months after the theft, she lost four times of her annual salary while gambling at Meadows Hollywood Casino in Pittsburgh.
Mavrakis visited her workplace on Sept. 5, 2016, which was closed on Labor Day. There, she gained access to the safe and, according to court documents, surreptitiously attempted to place an empty bank box on the floor directly in front of the open safe because she knew the location of the security cameras.
However, "surveillance cameras ... briefly glimpsed the box as she moved it in front of the safe," prosecutors said.
suspicious story
Surveillance video also shows the defendant leaving the credit union with several boxes. She then delivered five boxes to the credit union headquarters. The defendants kept a sixth box, which was filled with cash, according to prosecutors.
The next day, Mavrakis came to work and set fire to the safe in front of his colleagues. She told her supervisor that the fire was caused by an electrical spark from the safe's fire alarm.
A day later, she contacted the credit union's insurance company to file a claim for cash she claimed was destroyed in the fire. She sent a proof of loss form, signed it and the claim was settled.
Misrepresentation
According to prosecutors, Mavrakis then made "numerous false statements" to local and federal law enforcement as they investigated the fire.
She was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2021 on charges of embezzlement from a federal credit union, wire fraud and use of a fire to commit a federal crime.
On June 22, Mavrakis only pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, but prosecutors stressed that under the law, other charges could still be used against her at sentencing.
U.S. District Judge Marilyn Horan sentenced Mavrakis to one year of supervised release and ordered him to pay $399,230 in restitution.
Prosecutors believe she likely lost all her gambling money and called the amount she lost at Meadows over the years "shocking."
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Source: www.casino.org
