INDEPENDENCE TOWNSHIP (AP) — The chief financial officer of a suburban Detroit credit union recently was charged with embezzlement, two days after declaring that he stole $20 million over 12 years, authorities said.
They said Michael LaJoice gave the confession last Wednesday and that Oakland County sheriff’s detectives quickly confirmed it. Bond was set at $1 million.
“His lifestyle is like something out of the ‘Rich and Famous,’” said prosecutor Rob Novy, noting high-end home appliances and a nine-seat movie theater “that could not have been purchased on his salary.”
LaJoice, 36, worked at Clarkston Brandon Community Credit Union.
Undersheriff Michael McCabe said investigators weren’t aware of LaJoice until he stepped forward.
Defense attorney Michael P. Manley said LaJoice’s family hired him after LaJoice spoke to detectives.
“We’re talking about a two-day investigation that normally would take months or years. Don’t jump to conclusions until we get facts,” Manley told The Associated Press.
The credit union, with branches in Clarkston and Ortonville, said the accounts of more than 9,000 members are safe.
LaJoice owns a dance studio in Fenton and also develops commercial property. In 2013, the Fenton Regional Chamber of Commerce gave him its monthly community hero award.
LaJoice once paid $4,000 for an apple pie at a church fundraiser and pledged to match whatever was raised at a 2014 event to help a food bank, The Detroit News reported.
“I don’t even know how much that will be, but that doesn’t matter,” he said at the time.
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