Businessman sentenced to seven years for credit union fraud case

Yesterday, a judge ordered A. Eddy Zai to pay more than $23 million in restitution to the NCUA for defrauding $16.7 million from the now-defunct St. Paul Croatian Federal Credit Union. Zai will also spend more than seven years in prison for his actions.

In November, Zai pleaded guilty to bank fraud, bribery and money laundering for participating in a $70 million fraud case that led to the collapse of St. Paul Croatian FCU in April 2010.

Police say that Zai conspired with others, including the former CEO of St. Paul Croatian FCU Anthony Raguz, to submit fake loan documents over the course of seven years. The credit union’s downfall was “one of the largest credit union collapses in history,” according to authorities.

Zai created more than 15 companies that had little or no legitimate business operations to request loans from the credit union. He also paid bribes to Raguz to use his position to approve Zai’s loans, paid in concealed envelopes that were hand delivered to the credit union’s offices.

Raguz was sentenced to 14 years in prison for his role in one of the biggest fraud cases in credit union history.

When the credit union failed, it cost NCUSIF $170 million and led to a lawsuit from the NCUA. Click here to read more.