Employee replaces cash with “Monopoly money” in credit union vault heist
Edward Arthur Nurse, a former employee of Park Side Credit Union in Montana, admitted to stealing $390,000 by exchanging cash with fake bills.
A former employee of Park Side Credit Union in Whitefish, Montana, admitted to embezzling $390,000 from the company’s vault by swapping funny money for the real cash.
The Department of Justice said Edward Arthur Nurse, 35, of Missoula, pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with theft from the credit union from July 2023 to June 2024.
U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said Nurse, whose primary role was managing and balancing money in the vault, faces a maximum of 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine and five years of supervised release.
In court documents, the government said that in June 2024, another Park Side employee discovered $340,000 in the credit union’s vault had been replaced with fake funds. The look-alikes were later found to come from a company that provides fake currency as props for movies and entertainment productions.
Nurse was identified as a potential suspect because of his role.
In the previous seven months, financial records showed cash deposits totaling $117,751 into Nurse’s bank account, with each deposit for more than $10,000. In addition, financial information from a local casino revealed that from March 2024 to May 2024, Nurse put more than $56,000 in cash into an account there and cashed out slightly more than $8,000.
After the $386 million-asset credit union discovered the thefts, Nurse claimed to an FBI special agent that he did not usually carry much cash and, aside from a vacation to Las Vegas, he had not made any recent large purchases or cash deposits.
The investigation determined that during the first six months of 2024, Nurse had purchased $410,000 in fake currency from a prop money company and had it delivered to a post office box in his name.
The credit union was later informed that approximately $50,000 in fake money had been received by the Federal Reserve in July 2024. Those funds were returned and determined to have come from the prop money company.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case. The FBI, with assistance from the Missoula Police Department, conducted the investigation.
Sentencing is set for Feb. 25, 2025.
Nurse was released pending further proceedings.