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Former NCUA Employee Pleads Guilty to Illegal Access of a Government Computer

November 14, 2006, Alexandria, Va. -- National Credit Union Administration Inspector General William A. DeSarno announced today that former NCUA employee Raymond Lindeman, Jr., of Coventry, Rhode Island, pleaded guilty yesterday to a charge of unauthorized access of a government computer in violation of federal law. Sentencing has been set for February 2007. Lindeman could receive a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison.

Lindeman, who retired from NCUA in 2005, was employed by Charter Oak Federal Credit Union in Groton, Connecticut. Lindeman admitted using his Charter Oak computer to illegally access confidential data from the NCUA for the purpose of working on projects that the credit union and its Credit Union Service Organization billed to other credit unions.

The information that Lindeman accessed did not include any information about members of any credit union; nor did it include information that could compromise the safety and soundness of any credit union. The NCUA Office of the Chief Information Officer reports that it has identified and corrected the system vulnerability that enabled Lindeman to gain access.

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the NCUA Office of the Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

The National Credit Union Administration is the independent federal agency that regulates, charters and supervises federal credit unions. NCUA, backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, also operates and manages the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund insuring the deposits of 85 million account holders in all federal credit unions and the majority of state-chartered credit unions. NCUA is funded by credit unions, not federal tax dollars.