The prosecution of Leigh Bridges is finally underway as the former President of the Jackson Area Federal Credit Union agreed to plead guilty to federal charges of theft of funds from a federal credit union, false statement to a federal credit union, and filing false tax returns.
The Justice Department submitted a Bill of Information for Bridges today in U.S. District Court.
The Information states Bridges worked at the credit union from 1992 to April 2026. Bridges began embezzling "tens of millions of dollars" from her employer in 2011. How did she pull it off? The Information states:
8. To implement the scheme to defraud JAFCU, BRIDGES posted fake deposit entries in JAFCU member accounts. To further the scheme, BRIDGES fabricated descriptions of these deposits by identifying them as electronic funds transfers (""EFT"") from external sources such as Acorns Investing, JP Morgan Chase Bank, Raymond James Financial, and others, to make it appear as though her fictitious deposit transactions were legitimate when they were not. BRIDGES also created debit transactions in JAFCU general ledger accounts which enabled her to pull JAFCU funds into accounts under her control. BRIDGES primarily posted these fraudulent transactions tmder an administrative system code, ""JAF"", instead of using her assigned teller login identifier ""M16"". 9. To conceal her embezzlement scheme, BRIDGES altered CACU corporate statements to make it appear as though JAFCU had tens of millions of dollars more than it actually did. One of the ways BRIDGES accomplished this was by adding ACH credit receiver amounts that did not exist. For example, BRIDGES fraudulently inflated ACH credit receiver amounts by almost $90,000,000 for the July 2025 corporate statement as follows:
Bridges continued to post false entries that inflated the credit union's cash balance and make it appear "financially sound when it was not." Indeed, the credit union's July call report stated an operating loss of $103 million after posting a $1.2 million profit in December. The downward spiral continued as Bridges ratcheted up the embezzling in 2023 when she "obtained additional funds on behalf of JAFCU from other outside sources to cover shortfalls."
The Justice Department said at her change of plea hearing that Bridges made the credit union "insolvent." When she drained it of money, Bridges obtained $41 million from outside sources in 2023 through 2025.
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| Leigh & Chad Bridges |
Bridges used her ill-gotten gains to purchase luxury items such as Tiffany Jewelry, $82,000 watches, a Steinway piano, and five homes. She even spent $14 million on an American Express card in less than two years. A complete list of the loot is posted below.
Bridges faces up to thirty years in prison and a $1 million fine for the charges involving the credit union. The false tax return charges carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $100,000 fine.
The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan and Magistrate LaKeysha Greer-Isaac. Attorney John Collette represents Bridges.
The National Credit Union Administration Board assumed control of the Jackson Area Federal Credit Union. NCUAB obtained court orders freezing all Bridges assets and filed a clawback lawsuit against her and her husband, Chad.
Chad Bridges has not been indicted nor has he agreed to a Bill of Information.
Synopsis
Leigh Bridges is the former President of the Jackson Area Federal Credit Union. She became President of the credit union in 2021 after serving as CFO. The President signed all financial statements and handled all account reconciliations for wire transfers. The National Credit Union Administration Board terminated Bridges after it uncovered the alleged embezzlement. The credit union accused her and her husband Chad of embezzling between $55 and 95 million.
NCUAB sued the Bridges in May. U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan, III issued a temporary restraining order against the Bridges in May and froze all assets at the request of the plaintiff.
The complaint claims Leigh Bridges doctored the books while looting her employer of tens of millions of dollars. NCUAB alleged Leigh made bogus automated clearing house entries, wired large sums of money to her personal accounts as well as luxury retailers such as Tiffany's, and made fraudulent entries in the general ledger. The couple used their share accounts at the credit union to further the alleged fraud. Their lifestyle was so posh Mississippi Magazine featured their home.
The parent credit union accused Leigh of making over $51 million in false entries in the couple's share accounts from 2015 to 2026. (Read the complaint as it spells out in great detail how the money was spent. Earlier post with copy of complaint and list of the loot.)
Judge Jordan issued a preliminary injunction freezing the Bridges assets in July. NCUAB is the trustee for the assets and is allowed to seize any asset it determines were purchased with stolen funds.
The complaint charges the Bridges with fraudulent misrepresentation (Leigh), Fraudulent misrepresentation - financial transactions (Leigh), conversion of JAFCU funds (Leigh) , Breach of fiduciary duty (Leigh), personal liability under 12. U.S.C. 1787 (Leigh), Fraudulent transfers (Leigh), Fraudulent transfers (Chad), Enforcement of constructive trust (Both defendants),
Mills added Tina Funez as a defendant in June. Employed at JAFCU since 2006, Funez became a branch manager in 2023. How did Funez figure into the alleged scheme? Keep reading.
The Loot
* $15 million to pay personal credit card bills from January 2025 to March 2026. The payments included $14.4 million to American Express, $531,444 to Apple Card, and $68,871 to Chase card.
* $3.3 million for purchases at Brooks Collection, a Jackson luxury jewelry and handbag store. December 2022 to March 2026
* $906,704 to Craig Wilkinson Inc, a construction company. July 2019 to July 2024
* $250,184 to Courtney Peters Interior Design. July 2019 to January 2024
* $129,300 to purchase a Steinway piano. March 2019 to March 2026.
* $127,870 for two Mercedes-Benz vehicles in 2019 and 2020
* $45,956 to Brown Fine Arts from March 2019 to March 2026
* $84,325 to Cox Pools from March 2019 to March 2026
* $273,400 to Coinbase Global in 2021
* $295,000 to Joseph Gad Inc. a luxury diamond & colored gemstone jeweler in New York City. January 2021 to March 2026
* $66,571 to purchase a Tesla in March 2023
* $41,500 to Graziela Inc, a luxury jewelry in Illinois
* $378,780 to Tiffany (of course) in New York City in April 2024
* $20,130 to Chung P. Luk in Hong Kong in August 2023.
* $617,507 to Premier Prive in Palo Alto, CA. Used to purchase jewels from luxury jeweler Circa Jewels. January 2021 to March 2026
* Funds used to purchase, furnish, and improve home at 3826 Sleepy Hollow in Jackson, 2085 Great Southern Road in Hazlehurts, 257 Eastbrook St. in Jackson, and of course, 29500 Perdido Beach Boulevard Apartment 702 in Orange Beach.
* $13.8 million to Chad Bridges from May 2019 to May 2026. The money was used to fund several of the purchases above.
* $200,000 transferred to Leigh's family members through Chad's share account.
24 comments:
She will attempt to shield her husband-
To 1143A: "husband"
instead of using her assigned teller login identifier ""M16"".
Oh the irony.....
11:43 she probably won't have to shield him. I believe the law says that someone cannot be compelled to testify against their spouse. They've got plenty on her but as for charging the husband, it looks like that's not going to happen. Unless Federal prosecutors try to prove he had knowledge of what she was doing, and failed to notify, but even that may be difficult to prosecute.
Attorney John Collette represents Bridges.
Of course he does....
If my wife decorated our house with $50,000,000 worth of jewelry and art and other stuff even a slug like me probably would have noticed the difference.
The accountants should be sued! They could have should notice red flags! They need to lose their license
Where any employees fired? I know legally they did nothing wrong but they had to notice some red flags!
Do they get to keep the credit card points?
Leigh or Chad?
Incredibly naive statement.....Incrediby. You must think the Justice Department hires BOZOs like our Hinds DA does. SMDH.
IMO, she was so addicted to the dopamine rush of each splendid purchase, with free money, she never gave a thought to getting caught. Same thrill small embezzlers experience, just bigger numbers.
She apparently has been using those to live on...Believe she got bunches of gift cards with the points!
12:57 what's your theory? Or did you just come here to be the meter for others?
They will get the husband on something like "wire fraud". He probably bought something on the internet..... He won't get the time she does, but I'd bet he gets a title of "felon" and gets a vacation to Club Fed for a period. However, she should never see the light of day. Anything less than 30 years is a travesty.
Does John Collete accept credit card points for payment?
All the crap she bought is tasteless and gaudy. Have some class lady
Obviously, Collette was about work out some sort of payment with the receiver.
Theory? What are you even talking about?
The money she stole how was it replaced?
Which CPA firm was responsible for auditing the credit union?
Imagine Lynn Fitch and her 'best of what's left and whatever could be hired' staff attempting to investigate this.....
Did tax payers bail out the credit union
That’s what I’m thinking
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