Missing funds investigated at Rush Credit Union

A series of investigations have been launched into missing funds at the Rush Credit Union in North County Dublin.

The Central Bank has said that it is working with Grant Thornton, the accountancy firm, which is undertaking a review on behalf of the board. The board has been in ongoing contact with the Central Bank for some months.It is understood that the review will cover events over a number of months in what is a complex investigation.

Up to €700,000 in funds could be missing, it is believed, though customers have been assured that they will not face any loss. The credit union has written to members, asking them to confirm for details of their account balances. The gardaí have also been called in and are investigating.

The Rush Credit Union said in a statement that in February 2016 the board had appointed Grant Thornton. It is understood that this was prompted by the discovery of one suspicious transaction, and that the investigation has uncovered others.

“The external review process is nearly complete and a report is being prepared for the board”, the statement said. “The Central Bank and the Garda Síochána were informed of the situation some time ago.”

The Credit Union is continuing to operate as normal and provide all usual services to its members. The Central Bank will have a key role in deciding what happens when the Grant Thornton investigation is finished.

Members deposits are protected under a credit union savings protection scheme and are also covered by the state deposit guarantee which applies on amounts up to €100,000.

Services

The Rush credit union has 10,000 members, mainly from the Rush and Lusk area , and has €25 million in members’ funds.

Sources said that it was a complex situation and that the Grant Thornton report was taking longer to complete than had been originally anticipated.

In a statement, the Irish League of Credit Unions said an issue had been identified by the credit union, but because the matter was under investigation, it could not comment in detail “other than to say that the credit union is working extremely hard to ensure that this matter is dealt with swiftly”.

It said, the no credit union funds would be affected by the incident and the credit union was “fully insured” to deal with such matters.