Manager of CBS employees’ credit union stole $40M over 20 years, authorities say

This photo shows the CBS logo at the company's broadcast center in New York. (Associated Press)

A credit union set up to serve employees of CBS was shuttered last week after its manager was accused of embezzling $40 million over 20 years, according to reports.

The suspect, identified as Edward Martin Rostohar, 62, was a 30-year employee of the Studio City, Calif.-based credit union, reports said. He was arrested at his Studio City home and charged with bank fraud and identity theft, authorities said.

If convicted on both counts, he faces up to 32 years in prison and a $1 million fine, Deadline Hollywood reported.

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Prosecutors say Rostohar, as manager, made online payments to himself from his employer or forged a fellow employee’s signature on checks made out to him. He gambled away much of the money and also financed a lavish lifestyle that included flights on private jets and purchases of expensive watches and sports cars, Variety reported,

The alleged scheme began sometime before 2000, but suspicions were finally raised March 6 of this year, when another credit union employee discovered a $35,000 check made out to Rostohar with no record of the reason justifying the large sum, prosecutors said.

That employee then conducted an audit and learned that checks totaling $3.7 million had been made out to Rostohar since January 2018, according to prosecutors.

Rostohar was suspended from his job soon after, then arrested after his wife called 911, saying her husband had stolen money from his employer and was planning to leave the U.S., prosecutors said.

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Authorities said Rostohar later told them he had been stealing for 20 years, taking more than $40 million over that time. The information was later confirmed by the National Credit Union Administration, authorities said.

Prosecutors said the accounts of CBS employees were taken over from the shuttered credit union and assumed by University Credit Union of Los Angeles.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.