A former employee of a Missoula credit union has been sentenced to prison after admitting to a scheme involving the theft of nearly $400,000. Edward Arthur Nurse, 35, was found guilty of embezzling funds from Park Side Credit Union by replacing real cash with counterfeit prop money over a period of almost a year. The court imposed a six-month prison term, followed by five years of supervised release, and ordered Nurse to repay the stolen amount. This case highlights the vulnerabilities within financial institutions and the severe consequences faced by those who exploit such systems.

Nurse's fraudulent activities were uncovered in June 2024 when an employee discovered that a significant portion of the cash in the credit union’s vault had been substituted with fake bills. These counterfeit notes were sourced from a company that provides prop money for movies and entertainment productions. Nurse, who held the position of team lead for the vault, used his access to swap genuine currency with the fake bills he had purchased specifically for this purpose. To avoid detection, he cleverly placed real money at the front and back of bundles containing the counterfeit currency, thereby evading scrutiny from security cameras, auditors, and colleagues.

When confronted by an FBI special agent, Nurse initially denied any unusual financial activity, claiming he did not typically carry large amounts of cash and had made no recent significant purchases or deposits aside from a vacation to Las Vegas. However, investigators later found evidence of multiple large cash deposits into Nurse's personal account, totaling over $10,000 each on nine separate occasions in 2024. Additionally, records revealed that Nurse had acquired $410,000 worth of fake currency during the first half of 2024. The Federal Reserve received approximately $50,000 in fake money in July 2024, which was traced back to the same prop money company Nurse had used.

The U.S. District Court, presided over by Judge Donald W. Molloy, handed down a sentence that included six months of home confinement and 600 hours of community service, in addition to the prison term. Nurse was given the option to self-report to begin serving his sentence. The prosecution was carried out by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, with investigative support from the FBI and the Missoula Police Department. This case serves as a stark reminder of the importance of stringent oversight and accountability within financial institutions.