NCUA bars three industry employees, merges WeDevelopment FCU.
The agency accused employees in Indiana, Alaska and Arizona of using member or credit union funds for personal benefit.
The National Credit Union Administration issued three prohibition orders in August against former credit union employees accused of using their positions to take money for personal benefit.
The orders permanently bar Teresa Palmer, Jessie Wright and Ahmed Hamada from participating in the affairs of any federally insured depository institution. All three agreed to the orders as part of settlements with the NCUA.
Palmer, a former branch manager at Centra Credit Union in Columbus, Ind., was accused of fraudulently withdrawing money from member accounts between January 2021 and December 2022.
According to the NCUA, Palmer worked at Centra from at least 2014 through December 2022. A review of the credit union’s records found that the alleged misconduct resulted in more than $350,000 in losses.
The agency said Palmer breached her fiduciary duties to the credit union and its members and engaged in unsafe or unsound practices.
Wright, a former employee of Tongass Federal Credit Union in Ketchikan, Alaska, was accused of removing cash from the credit union’s premises without authorization.
She worked for Tongass from August 2024 through August 2025, according to the NCUA. A review of the credit union’s records found that the alleged misconduct caused $14,500 in losses.
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The third case involved Hamada, a former employee of OneAZ Credit Union in Phoenix.
The NCUA said Hamada worked at OneAZ in various roles from March 2020 through May 2025. He was accused of conducting unauthorized cash and check transactions involving a member’s account for his own financial benefit.
Those transactions totaled more than $57,000, the agency said.
The NCUA said Hamada’s conduct also breached his fiduciary duties and constituted unsafe or unsound practices.
A prohibition order is a permanent ban on participating in the affairs of a federally insured depository institution. The NCUA also uses other enforcement tools, including cease-and-desist orders and civil money penalties, depending on the circumstances of a case.
In a separate action, the NCUA Tuesday said WeDevelopment Federal Credit Union of Kansas City, Missouri, merged into CommunityAmerica Federal Credit Union of Lenexa, Kansas, effective immediately.
On July 10, the NCUA placed WeDevelopment Federal Credit Union into conservatorship and appointed itself as the conservator.
The agency worked to address issues affecting the credit union’s safety and soundness, but after analysis the NCUA determined that merging WeDevelopment Federal Credit Union into CommunityAmerica was in the best interest of its members.
WeDevelopment Federal Credit Union was a federally insured and chartered institution serving 1,015 members with $2.4 million in assets, according to its most recent call report. Chartered in 2022, WeDevelopment Federal Credit Union served underserved communities within 57 census tracts in Jackson County, Missouri.
CommunityAmerica Federal Credit Union is a federally insured and chartered credit union with 594,689 members and assets of $9 billion, according to the credit union’s most recent call report.
Ken McCarthy is manager of marketing communications at Tyfone, where he monitors the credit union industry and contributes to conversations shaping its future. He previously covered credit unions and community banking for American Banker and S&P Global Market Intelligence. He holds a journalism degree from Point Park University and has more than 15 years of experience covering financial services. He is also the author of three literary fiction novels.
