MISSOULA — A former Missoula credit union employee accused of embezzling approximately $390,000 from the vault and swapping the real money with fake funds admitted to a theft charge on Friday.
U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich says Edward Arthur Nurse, 35, of Missoula, pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with theft from a credit union. Nurse faces a maximum of 30 years in prison, a $1 million fine and five years of supervised release.
Government prosecutors alleged in court documents that from about July 2023 to June 2024, Nurse embezzled from his employer, Park Side Credit Union in Missoula.
An employee discovered $340,000 in cash in the credit union’s vault had been replaced with fake funds from a company that provides fake currency as props for movies and entertainment productions in June of 2024.
Nurse was identified as a potential suspect because his primary role was managing and balancing money in the vault. Financial records showed cash deposits totaling $117,751, with each deposit for more than $10,000, into Nurse’s bank account in the previous seven months, a news release states.
In addition, financial information from a local casino reflected that from March 2024 to May 2024, Nurse put more than $56,000 in cash into the business and cashed out slightly more than $8,000.
Once the credit union discovered the thefts, Nurse claimed to an FBI special agent that he did not usually carry much cash and, aside from a vacation to Las Vegas, Nevada, he had not made any recent large purchases or cash deposits.
The investigation determined that during the first six months of 2024, Nurse had purchased $410,000 in fake currency from a prop money company and had the money delivered to a post office box in Nurse’s name.
The credit union was later informed that approximately $50,000 in fake money had been received by the Federal Reserve in July 2024. Those funds were returned and determined to be fake bills from the prop money company.
Sentencing in the case was set for Feb. 25, 2025, and Nurse was released pending further proceedings.
U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy presided over the case which was investigated by the FBI with help from the Missoula Police Department.
