A former employee of a Missoula credit union has been sentenced to six months in prison for embezzling approximately $389,000 by replacing real money with fake currency. Edward Arthur Nurse, 35, admitted to the crime and was also ordered to pay restitution of the same amount. The sentence includes five years of supervised release.
Nurse pleaded guilty in October 2024 to charges of theft from a credit union. U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy presided over the case and additionally sentenced Nurse to six months of home confinement and 600 hours of community service. Nurse is allowed to self-report to prison.
The government alleged that between July 2023 and June 2024, Nurse embezzled funds from Park Side Credit Union in Missoula by using his position as "team lead" for the vault. He replaced $340,000 in cash with fake currency purchased from a company that supplies props for movies and entertainment productions. To avoid detection, he placed real money at the front and back of bundles containing fake bills.
Following the discovery of the thefts by another employee in June 2024, Nurse initially claimed he did not usually carry much cash except for a vacation trip to Las Vegas, Nevada. However, records indicated he made nine deposits exceeding $10,000 each into his personal account during 2024. Investigations revealed that Nurse had bought $410,000 worth of fake currency earlier that year.
The Federal Reserve received about $50,000 in counterfeit bills from this prop money company in July 2024 but returned them upon determining their falsity.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office led the prosecution while the FBI conducted an investigation with help from the Missoula Police Department.
