Write to us at:

Margaret Groarke
3250 Perry Ave #2D
Bronx, NY 10467

The Supervisory Committee's job is to serve as a watchdog for the members. We perform various tests to make sure that everything is being done properly at the credit union. We keep an eye out for fraudulent behavior by members, staff or board members.

The members of the committee are: Rafiu Balogun, Radiance Godoy, Margaret Groarke, Sheldon Smiley, and Mary Johnson-Cobb. And we'd like to take this opportunity to thank Jimmy Alexander, Sefton Rodney, Rosa Matos and Suzanne Roman who served as valuable member of our committee earlier this year. We want to encourage any member who may feel so inspired to join and help out the Supervisory Committee. You can see any member of the committee for information regarding membership.

We hire an outside expert to audit the credit union annually. For the last few years we have hired Brent Hamilton, C.P.A., who we have found to be very thorough. Mr. Hamilton always finds some areas in which the credit union could improve, and we take his findings as the bulk of our agenda for the year. An audit of procedures at the branches was done by an auditor from Kraft Foods FCU, and branch managers will be working to put his recommendations into effect.

We often review credit union policies and update them or draft new policies for approval by the Board. This year, members of our committee drafted new policies on dormant accounts, cash counts, teller differences, and bait money. Much of our work concerns fraud prevention. To accomplish this, we do various spot checks to see that improper transactions are not taking place. We sent letter to some persons who had closed their accounts, to verify that they wanted them closed, and to ask them whether they had any complaints about the credit union. We also counted the cash on hand at the credit union to make sure that it was accurate. And we checked to make sure staff members were not accessing their own accounts, which is a violation of policy. We also sent new member welcome letter to test the accuracy of the address information.

We do a member account verification every other year to check the balances in the account and see if it is correct. You should check your balances every time you get your statement, and call the credit union if there is a problem. If you can't resolve your problem by calling the credit union, you can write to the supervisory committee, and we will investigate it for you.

Loss prevention is also a concern of our committee. We try to keep the credit union from making risky loans or investments, or from spending more money than it can afford. We reviewed loan applications, to make sure that all necessary paperwork had been completed, and that the loan policy was being followed in every case. We also made a checklist to help insure that all loans have the right documentation. We calculated the loan loss reserves, to be sure the credit union has enough assets to cover potential problems.

There is always a lot of work for us to do, but especially now because of Bethex's additional branches. The board recently voted to change our bylaws to allow more members on our committee. We are currently six people, but the by-laws now allow us to have up to nine members.

Our committee meets every other month, usually on a Thursday evening at the credit union. Our next meeting is Thursday, October 17. If you'd like to join us, please talk to one of us, leave a message for us at the credit union, or write to us at the address above.