New search warrant gives more details in credit union fraud case in Virginia

Investigators have now searched a second residence in connection with the multi-million dollar Lynrocten Federal Credit Union investigation.
A search warrant filed in Roanoke federal court June 3 reveals a home on Churchview Drive in Madison Heights, owned by former Lynrocten teller Teresa Humphries, was searched by the Secret Service on May 28. Contacted by phone Thursday, a family member said Humphries had no comment on the investigation or warrant.
Lynrocten, a small credit union based in Lynchburg, was shut down by the National Credit Union Association in May after police began looking into possible criminal activity. The NCUA became aware of the suspected fraud by April 25 and the United States Secret Service was called in to assist May 7.
Teresa Humphries is one of two women once employed by the now-defunct credit union. Humphries was the bank’s teller and Linda Susan Newcomb, known as Sue, was the bank’s manager.
In late April and again in May, according to court documents, “Humphries admitted that she and Newcomb originated loans in member names without their authorization and thereafter deposited the funds from the various loans into other accounts maintained at Lynrocten FCU,” U.S. Secret Service agent Thomas Fleming wrote in an earlier affidavit.
The affidavit says Humphries “admitted she personally stole $3,000 to $4,000 a month and that she and Newcomb deposited the stolen funds into accounts belonging to their family members.”
On May 14, she recanted the statement.
The same day, documents show Humphries’ daughter, not identified by name, told investigators “her mother had given her approximately $3,000 to $4,000 a month for the past five years” but she did not know the source of the money.
Now investigators have searched the Humphries property and vehicles for evidence of any federal crimes.
Court documents show investigators were searching for evidence of “theft; embezzlement; or misapplication by bank officer or employee of lending credit and insurance institutions” … “false loan and credit applications” … and “aggravated identity theft.”
Among the items taken from the property were a cell phone, numerous documents, computers, credit union correspondence, tax documents, an LFC gift card and billing and retirement statements. Among the items seized was a statement for an account identified as the “Family Friend League Account.” Documents do not explain the significance of that account.
This recent warrant is the second made public in connection with the Lynrocten case. The first was issued in May on a Madison Heights home owned by Newcomb.
No arrests have been made in the case.
According to legal documents, Newcomb has maintained she has no knowledge of the alleged fraud scheme. Documents show over the course of three days in March, a total of $878,600 was deposited into an account of a cleaning business with an address “associated with the credit union manager Linda Susan Newcomb.”
“These high-dollar transactions do not appear to be consistent with a cleaning service,” Fleming wrote in the affidavit. “Similar transactions occurred in April,” and the irregularities could not be explained by the account holder.
Investigators said a preliminary review of property records reveal about 19 properties in the name of Newcomb’s spouse with a tax value of about $1,808,800.
A search of public records shows the deed to at least one piece of property has been shifted between family members three times from 2002 to 2005.