OXNARD : Woman Accused of False Loan Entries

A federal grand jury has indicted a former loan officer at the Oxnard Employees Federal Credit Union on charges that she made false entries about her personal loans.

Mary Magdalen Watkins, 29, of Port Hueneme used her access to credit union records to falsely record that she had repaid one loan and was up to date on another, according to the indictment filed last week in U. S. District Court in Los Angeles.

The indictment charges Watkins with four counts of making false entries in bank records. Watkins made the first false entry around the end of June, 1990, when a Department of Motor Vehicles pink slip on her car was stamped “paid,” which indicated that the loan had been paid off when it hadn’t, according to the indictment.

The other three counts relate to charges of falsely marking a delinquent loan as current and falsely recording a $1,000 interest payment on a loan, the indictment says.

Assistant U. S. Atty. David C. Scheper said his office sought the indictments under a program that focuses on financial fraud of less than $100,000. The indictment doesn’t say how much money is involved in Watkins’ case.

But because the amount is considered relatively small, Watkins is being summoned to appear in court instead of being arrested, Scheper said. She is expected to be arraigned within three weeks.