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Kam Wong, of Valley Stream, has been sentenced to 66 months in prison after pleading guilty to embezzlement from a federally insured credit union before U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl, who imposed his sentence this week.
Beginning in 2007 and lasting through his arrest in May 2018, Wong was the CEO and president of the Municipal Credit Union (MCU), which has its headquarters in Manhattan.
According to U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, “MCU is the oldest credit union in New York State and one of the oldest and largest in the country, providing banking services to more than 588,000 members, including municipal, state, and federal workers in New York City. MCU’s earnings are intended to be directed back to its members in the form of more favorable rates and fewer and lower fees for products and services.”
While acting as CEO, Wong ran a long-running, multi-faceted scheme to obtain money from MCU which he was not entitled to, then took steps to conceal his actions. Berman said that Wong submitted sham invoices for dental work never performed or paid by him, and, as a result, obtained reimbursement for hundreds of thousands of dollars of such nonexistent dental work.
Additionally, Wong caused MCU to pay him additional benefits that he was not entitled to, including millions of dollars of payments in lieu of purported long-term disability insurance, and for taxes owed on those and other employment benefits.
In total, Wong defrauded MCU out of approximately $9,9 million.
Berman said that Wong also misappropriated MCU funds for his own gain, purchasing a Mercedes-Benz for his personal use, leasing multiple luxury vehicle, purchasing electronics, cash advances and expensing the organization for unnecessary items and luxuries.
Wong also used MCU funds for educational, housing and living expenses for two of his friends’ relatives who were hired by the organization at his behest. He also caused MCU to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to a former Supervisory Committee member’s company, which was in violation of the MCU conflict of interest policy.
Wong learned of the federal investigation into his actions in January last year and attempted to obstruct justice by making false statements to federal agents and creating false and misleading documents in an attempt to justify and conceal his illegal payments.
In addition to his prison term, Wong, 63, was sentenced to three years of supervised release and was ordered to forfeit $9,890,375 and to pay restitution in the same amount to MCU.
“For years, Kam Wong, the then-CEO of New York’s oldest credit union, betrayed the credit union’s hard-working members from the perch of his executive suite by siphoning off millions of dollars in company money for his personal benefit. Wong then tried to cover up what he had done by making false statements to federal investigators and creating false and misleading documents,” Berman said.
“He will now serve a substantial prison sentence for his crime. I commend the Special Agents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and our law enforcement partners, for their tireless efforts to protect the credit union’s members and expose misconduct in this ongoing investigation.”
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