Timothy J. Racicot Acting United States Attorney for the District of Montana | Wikipedia
A former employee of Altana Federal Credit Union in Billings has been sentenced to prison for embezzlement. Kelly Jo Muzzana, who served as the Operations Manager at the credit union in 2023, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay $65,046.37 in restitution.
Muzzana, aged 40, admitted guilt to charges of embezzlement by a credit union employee in July 2024. U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided over the case.
Court documents revealed that during her tenure as Operations Manager, Muzzana had access to customer data and managed Altana's fraud-alert process. Her responsibilities included overseeing employees who documented fraud claims and facilitating fund reimbursements by Altana. Additionally, she managed the fraud reporting system and had authority over bank card re-issuance.
Muzzana misused her position by creating duplicate bank cards for customer accounts and taking them home. She also took undelivered cards received through mail from Altana. These cards were used for personal purchases online and at retail stores such as Target and Walmart around Billings, Montana.
The fraudulent activities came to light when an Altana customer reported a suspicious purchase linked to Muzzana's actions. Upon learning about an investigation initiated by law enforcement following this report, Muzzana downloaded a recording of a detective's call regarding the matter and subsequently fled from her workplace.
Altana reimbursed its customers for all stolen funds. In a victim impact statement, Jason Hagadone, CEO of Altana Federal Credit Union stated: "The credit union suffered significant reputation risk from this incident... Kelly breached that trust by stealing and using their debit cards."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Hargrove led the prosecution with investigative support from the Billings Police Department and FBI.
