by: Missy Baxter

In the latest case of a small credit union slammed by embezzlement, a former employee of the $26 million Middle Tennessee Federal Credit Union pleaded guilty to pilfering more than $370,000.

Latisha Cochran, 36, admitted that she stole the funds from the Cookeville, Tenn.-based institution from 2007 to 2013 by issuing fraudulent loans in the names of several fictitious individuals, according to court documents. She listed loan collateral, including a boat, motorcycle and trailer, which did not exist.

The elaborate loan scheme lasted about six years, according to a press release from David Rivera, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.

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