Source: Office of United States Attorneys
HOUSTON – A 58-year-old Prairie View woman has been sentenced for embezzlement by a federal credit union employee, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
Gloria Hall pleaded guilty April 23, 2024.
U.S. District Judge Charles Eskridge has now ordered Hall to serve 24 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release. Additionally, Hall will be required to make full restitution of $211,563.12 to her victims who were all clients of the Prairie View Federal Credit Union. At the hearing, the court heard additional forensic accounting evidence that detailed the depth and length of her fraudulent scheme. In handing down the sentence, the court noted the cultural and historical significance of the Prairie View Federal Credit Union that Hall destroyed with her theft.
“Protecting our most senior and vulnerable citizens from fraud is a vital mission of this office,” said Ganjei. “We cannot and will not let their life’s work fall prey to the greed and deceit of criminals.”
“Gloria Hall’s crimes upended more than just her victims,” said Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams of the FBI Houston Field Office. “Not only did Hall take advantage of her position to rob elderly bank customers of their life savings to enrich herself, but she also robbed the credit union of its 80-plus-years history when it was forced to merge with another institution as a direct result of her stealing. The small community she ingratiated herself in too was robbed of their life-long trust in the only bank they knew to safekeep their money.”
Hall was employed at Prairie View Federal Credit Union (PVFCU). From 2017 through 2019, while acting as manager, she purposefully maintained an antiquated business practice which would not allow customers to access their accounts online. Hall admitted she was able to and did access at least two elderly customer accounts and misappropriated $211,563.12 of their funds for her own personal gain.
PVFCU was one of the oldest continually operational federal credit unions a historically black college or university had established in the United States. It did not survive Hall’s embezzlement. PVFCU existed for approximately 85 years prior to its failure and merger with the Cy-Fair Federal Credit Union in early 2022.
Hall was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The FBI – Bryan Resident Agency conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Carter prosecuted the case.