POA CALLS UPON ORGANIZATION’S PRESIDENT & CEO TO TAKE ACTION
by Sharon Rondeau
(Jan. 12, 2017) — On Tuesday, the power of attorney for an injured U.S. Army soldier went for the second time in less than a week to a local branch of the Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU) to present five signed affidavits alleging fraud with the soldier’s bank account over the last 3-4 months totaling $52,000.
According to the POA, approximately 30 unauthorized transactions ranging from $.17 to $35,000 transferred money to at least three different institutions without proper transaction numbers.
She reported that on Tuesday, branch staff were courteous and efficient but said little about the matter after she presented the affidavits.
On Friday, the POA visited the branch for the first time with government-issued identification in hand for both herself and the soldier to demand an explanation for the unauthorized activity which began in October, just after the soldier was hospitalized, and of which she was not told until mid-November.
She was never notified in writing.
On September 29, the soldier was unexpectedly admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) against the family’s and his will and kept there for three months without access to his cellular phone and laptop computer.
The soldier suffered a traumatic brain injury nearly four years ago after being termed “delusional” and scheduled for medical separation from the Army. That process followed his witnessing of alleged misconduct on the part of his command when he was stationed in South Korea which affected him personally.
Because the POA did not need to access the soldier’s bank account after his recent admission, she was unaware of the fraudulent transactions until November, after she learned that Walter Reed had attempted to have a legal guardian appointed for the soldier from the Montgomery County, MD Office of Adult Protective Services on the allegation that as POA, she had mishandled his funds.
While hospitalized, the soldier’s wallet was held, allegedly in safekeeping, by Walter Reed. The soldier reported that on or about November 17, he was “escorted” by Sgt. Anthony Hill to a NFCU branch within the hospital complex to obtain a new debit card which had not been requested.
On October 3, the POA had canceled the soldier’s debit card with Navy Federal as a precaution since his wallet was not produced by Walter Reed during her emergency visit there on October 1.
In a mid-December conference call held by the soldier’s Warrior Transition Brigade (WTB) commander, a social worker declared that the command had determined that the soldier required “a fiduciary” to handle his financial affairs as the POA, another relative and this writer were on the phone. The social worker did not say how the command unit had arrived at its conclusion.
The POA is now concerned that the significant theft which has occurred and for which the local branch acknowledged an investigation is warranted could have gone unnoticed by the institution’s security systems over a 3-4-month time frame. “How secure is this bank?” she asked. “It has hundreds of thousands of customers across the country.”
Curiously, a “J. Tindell” from Navy Federal had declined to honor affidavits alleging fraud presented by the POA in 2013 for two signature loans totaling $13,000 for which the soldier, who was hospitalized at the time, never applied. Since then, the soldier has been repaying the money despite the fact that he never borrowed it.
She and other members of the soldier’s family, as well as other interested parties, have reported harassment; death threats; stalking; hacking of email accounts, computers and phones; and now the pillaging of the soldier’s bank account of which a Navy Federal employee originally pointed to her as the perpetrator.
“Eventually this is going to come to a head. People thought they’d never get caught…you cannot corrupt the entire world,” the POA said. “I want [NFCU President, CEO, Treasurer and Director] Cutler Dawson to address this.”
Dawson has said that “how our members feel about the service they receive from Navy Federal” is “what matters to us the most.”
This disgusting.
l bet there is nothing Federal or Navy about this organization except it is as corrupt and unaccountable as the Federal Government!