KINGWOOD, W.Va. — A woman has been charged for her role in embezzling more than $150,000 from WEPCO Federal Credit Union members’ account.

According to a criminal complaint written by the Kingwood Police Department, on Nov. 29, 2017, Nicole Moore, 37, of Elk Garden, began “embezzling from members[sic] loan accounts” while working as a loan officer at WEPCO Federal Credit Union.

From the dates of Nov. 29, 2017, through Sept. 9, 2020, Moore “was able to embezzle $157,950.00 from 60 members[sic] accounts by doing cash advances on over 81 different loans” via “198 transactions on members[sic] accounts without them knowing,” officers said.

The complaint states that Moore “admitted to having changed members[sic] statements from paper to electronic,” and that she would “turn off notifications on the electronic accounts so members would not notice a change in their principle balance.”

On Sept. 9, a member of the credit union called to check her account’s balance and noticed that it was higher than it had been when she checked the balance months prior, at which point she reported the discretion to WEPCO, officers said.

During the course of its investigation, the credit union found that there had been 10 different cash advance transactions from the member’s account beween the dates of Dec. 17, 2018, and Aug. 4, 2020, which had all been performed by Moore, according to the complaint.

At that point, representatives with the credit union contacted the Kingwood Police Department and an investigation began after Moore had been terminated from her position, officers said.

After being read her Miranda rights, Moore claimed she was “unaware of exactly how many loans she had manipulated, nor how much money she had taken,” and when asked why she embezzled, Moore stated that “she is being black mailed[sic],” according to the complaint.

Moore then told officers that she would put the money into the “blackmailer’s” account and would use the card from said account to take money out of an ATM, however, “Moore was also caught on camera September 5, 2020” … “taking $800 from an account” … “then putting the money into her[Moore’s] personal account,” officers said.

Before using the ATM, Moore had placed $1,600 into the “blackmailer’s” account, which was the last transaction Moore was able to perform prior to being terminated from the credit union, according to the complaint.

Moore has been charged with embezzlement.