Margurite M. Cofell denied most of the allegations by the NCUA that she stole millions while she was the CEO of a the $51 million St, Francis Campus Credit Union in Little Falls, Minn., according to court documents her lawyers filed U.S. District Court in St. Paul on Monday.

However, Cofell acknowledged she drafted a written confession about how she carried out her embezzlement scheme.

An NCUA civil lawsuit alleged that the 60-year-old woman of Little Falls, Minn., embezzled $2.8 million over 15 years. However, Cofell allegedly began stealing from the credit union in the mid-1990s, which led to a total loss that likely exceeded $10 million, according to a forensic auditor’s report filed with the lawsuit.

“Cofell admits that there was an examination by the NCUA on January 23, 2014 and that NCUA initiated an investigation at that point,” Cofell’s lawyers wrote in answering the NCUA’s allegations. “Cofell lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the truth of the allegation regarding the forensic report by Lillie & Company.”

 

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