Edward M. Rostohar made off with $40 million over the course of two decades
Former CBS Employees Federal Credit Union manager Edward Martin Rostohar has been sentenced to 169 months — that’s just over 14 years — in federal prison for embezzling $40 million from his employer over two decades.
U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II handed down the sentence Monday in Los Angeles.
Rostohar pled guilty to the charges in May after being arrested in March of this year. Federal prosecutors said he spent the money on gambling, cars, watches, and travel by private jet. The charges against the 62-year-old Studio City resident were felony counts of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
The National Credit Union Administration, the federal agency that regulates credit unions, liquidated CBS Employees Federal Credit Union and discontinued its operations after Rostohar’s arrest, after determining it was insolvent with no prospect of restoring viable operations on its own. Member services continue and deposits remain protected by insurance, the NCUA said in a statement.
According to an affidavit, from before 2000 until March of this year, Rostohar used his position to make online payments from the credit union to himself or by forging the signature of another credit union employee on checks payable to Rostohar.
Prosecutors said Rostohar was caught March 6 when a credit union employee found a $35,000 check made payable to him with no reason for the amount. The employee audited credit union checks since January 2018 and discovered $3,775,000 in checks to Rostohar, with the forged signature of another employee who had not given consent, prosecutors said.
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