STUDIO CITY—Former CBS Employees Federal Credit Union Manager, Edward Martin Rostohar, 62, was sentenced to 169 months in prison on one felony count of bank fraud on Monday, September 16. He was arrested on March 12 and has been detained as both a flight risk and an economic danger to the community.

Over the course of 20 years, Rostohar embezzled $40 million from his employer by making online payments from the credit union to himself, and forging the signatures of other employees on checks made payable to his name. The embezzled money was disbursed on Rostohar’s gambling habits, travels by private jet, and the purchase of homes in California, Nevada and Mexico. 

The alleged scheme was exposed on March 6 when a credit union employee found a $35,000 check made payable to Rostohar, and the check did not include reasoning for the dollar amount, according to court documents. The employee conducted an audit of the credit union checks issued since January 2018 and discovered $3,775,000 in checks made payable to Rostohar that contained the forged signature of another employee without the employee’s knowledge or consent. On March 12, the credit union informed Rostohar he was suspended from his job after an internal investigation uncovered “irregularities in the performance of your job duties,” according to court documents.

Rostohar explained, that his knowledge as an examiner for the National Credit Union provided leverage to easily compromise large profits without consent or accountability. Rostohar allegedly said he gambled away much of the money and spent the rest on traveling by private jet, buying expensive watches, and giving his wife a weekly allowance of $5,000. He also said he purchased two cars – a Porsche and a Tesla.

The National Credit Union Administration has since discontinued its operations with Studio City-based CBS Employees. Prior to its liquidation, CBS Employees Federal Credit Union served 2,798 members and had assets totaling $21,037,558 according to the credit union’s most recent call report.

Written By Alondra Arana and Sanestina Hunter