This is totally ridiculous - a man in the armed forces is robbed and the credit union says he should have checked his statement? What, between bombs going off?

Glad my money isn't in this credit union. I'm pretty sure that the credit union knew this man was a soldier and was away and red flags should have come up when checks were being cashed locally. As for the thief!!! Out on $40.00 unsecured bond??? She only turned herself in because of all the reports of where she was staying. What a lowlife loser!!! Get a job!!!

What kind of credit union is this? Oh, I know... it is run by the Grunch!

the bank should have varified his signature. as far as im concerned the bank should return this young mans money and go after the theves.

the bank should have varified his signature. as far as im concerned the bank should return this young mans money and go after the theves.

the bank should have varified his signature. as far as im concerned the bank should return this young mans money and go after the theves.

Doverman...seriously? what other credit union could it be (Maine Highlands)

nice credit union, I didn't know there were phones accessible to a man fighting to stay alive, OH I KNOW he could have used his CELL PHONE, and had the bombs stop so he could check in daily., get real MaineHighlands, give this guy his money and fire the tellers that cashed the checks, one for not verifying the signature, two for not having the brains to figure that something was wrong when this guy is countries away and checks are being cashed locally, and three for just plain being ignorant. If the account holder is in IRAQ/AFGHANISTAN, how can he be writing checks, did he have a power of attorney on file? if not, the credit union is at fault. talk about taking advantage of someone, mabye the tellers that cashed the checks should go overseas to fight in the war and someone should empty their bank accounts, then they should try to get it back. I hope Mr. Burke gets his restitution, but considering the scum that stole from him, I highly doubt any thing will come of it other than an order to pay restitution, and then they will end up being arrested over and over and over and over again because they are in contempt of a court order. No wonder the country is in financial ruin, we have banks and credit unions who can't be bothered to go the extra step needed. Hey, are they asking for a BAILOUT? MABYE THAT IS WHY GOV. IS ASKING FOR FED. FUNDS TOO. HE WANTS TO BAIL OUT DUMB ASS CREDIT UNIONS AND DIRIGO HEALTH. YEAAAAAAAAAAAAA AMERICA

sorry, I misread the article, he was home, but still he was on leave, probably wanted to see his FAMILY? STILL THE CREDIT UNION SHOULD HAVE TO PAY.

I have to agree with the CU. I handled my business every month while a combat troop in Nam. It is unfortunate but I learned a long time ago not to trust anyone about money.

It shouldn't matter if 20 days has lapsed. If someone broke into your camp in December and you don't find out until April, whatever was stolen is still stolen.

They say he was home on leave when he discovered it.....It doesn't say he was home when it happened. And to SunandClouds, I'm sure that you were not the "norm" for doing this. And during Vietnam, we didn't have the accessiblity to other people's identities that is available today. The fact that this is a LOCAL credit union, means that they know most of their customers, also the fact that the checks were sent to his brother's home and not his means that they knew he was gone. It is their responsibility to verify and it is their responsibility to have common sense. Or are we all supposed to shut down our bank accounts and all access to them while overseas fighting for the freedoms that the credit union seems to be taking very much for granted.

It won`t take long for these 3 scumbags to make full restitution if the state garnishes their wages. And if they refuse to work and pay it back then let them rot in jail @ $3.00 a day. If they have anything sell it off and pay thing man his money

I think their pictures should also be in the paper, so everyone can see the low life scum sucking pigs of useless flesh..sighssssssssss

Regardless that he is in the service, these 3 people stole from him & should have to pay him back. I am not in the service, but I can pretty much guarantee that if somebody stole from me, I would collect some kind of compensation, one way or another.

I agree on printing there faces. Let the State see what lowlifes they are.

It seems that allot of people are putting all the blame on the Credit Union. What about the 3 scum bags who stold his money? They should all be sent to Iraq for a year without pay as punishment. But that won't happen because the bleeding hearts and free blood sucking lawyers will protect them.

Ok, now this is really sad.How can someone cash a check for $6,500 and not be questioned about it. As far as I'm concerned,

the Credit Union should refund every penney. I guess that I should be thankfull that I do not belong to this Credit Union, and if

anyone does, think about cancelling your accounts there because if the situation arises, you would be in the same situation.

Someone made a good point, maybe he could have checked his statement in between missions and gunfire. This whole

situation infuriates me terribly. Now this young man has to go back "over" with this whole situation on his mind. Shawn, if

you read this, you have so many people behind you right now, it may not get your money back, but we are standing up for

you all the way. It may not look that way now, but something good will come out of this.

Keep fighting for this Shawn.

cakelady2@roadrunner.com

This is totally crazy! To everyone that uses this credit union pull your money out of there now, before something like this happens to you !

This credit Union should relize that this guy was fighting for there freedom and is going back again. And all they can do is screw him over, HOW WRONG !

Why didn't his brother secure the checks..

Despicable.......... What happened to being FDIC insured? This person is putting his life on the line.... and they think he should have checked his statement and called. He is protecting us, why can't we protect him? Aren't there laws to protect our service men and woman on active duty?

Wow. Stupidity is rampant, from the thieves to the posters here. There are rules regarding liabilities for misappropriated funds. Period. FDIC insurance is for a bank failure, nummah, not for these types of thefts. The thieves will be on the hook for the money they took. Why should the other deposit holders in the bank cover the lost funds? Rules apply. If they didn't, how long could you ignore your accounts while a thief or family member cleaned them out? 5 days? 10 days? 6 months? 2 years? 10 years? And then still think you could come back and blame the bank? The Credit Union didn't screw him over. Someone STOLE the money. If they didn't have rules regarding such thefts, how long could the theft go undetected and then you twits would still hold the Credit Union at fault? Jeesh. We all have a responsibility to check our accounts, like credit cards, etc., for theft and fraud. So, brilliant thinkers all, where's the cutoff time when the REST of the deposit holders no longer have to cover the loss?

I quit using the credit union I belonged to when they started holding all my checks for 10 days before they would cash them and that included money orders and support checks via the State. They would not cash any third party checks or checks brought in by non members. If my credit union was this cautious why wasn't the one who cashed his checks?

The theives should be the ones to pay but the credit union cashed checks they knew did not belong to the bearer. Put all their names and pictures in the paper.

Totally ridiculous! This soldier is being punished for the malicious, unlawful actions of others? The credit union should be ashamed of their "decision" to only refund a small portion of the stolen amount. I hope potential and current customers keep this in mind when deciding on who to bank with. As far as I am concerned this man was robbed twice, once by the thieves and again by the credit union.

It seems funny to me that no red flags went up at the bank when money was withdrawn in an account that had not been used in awhile. In a previous article it talked of him saving his money for the future. Now all of a sudden he is writing checks and no one wonders. People may have shown ID to cash each check but was his signature ever checked against his signature card? As a credit union member in a neighboring town I know this would have caused some phone calls to verify that I was writing these checks. He may have been in Texas when these checks were cashed but I am sure after his long deployment in Iraq checking on his savings was not his first priority. So now this young man is out over $10,000 that he earned risking his life and has to live with the frustration of dealing with the mess. While one of the people involved had to pay only $40 to get out on bail, and the police couldn't find her at her parents home for almost 2 months...no restitution can ever replace peace of mind and faith in your fellow man. While this soldier is out there fighting for ours, he has lost his own.

I have met the girl in the article. She said she didn't even know that there was a warrant for her arrest. She also claims she was a innocent by-stander. I say she can't be to innocent if she was wanted by the police.

Bangorean......We all have a responsibility to check our accounts, like credit cards, etc., for theft and fraud. So, brilliant thinkers all, where's the cutoff time when the REST of the deposit holders no longer have to cover the loss?

I would hope that there would be an exception to the rule for someone in the Military who is serving over seas in a war zone. What are the chances he got his statements within 20 days of it being sent or even every month? With all the moving that they do over there.....I am going to say slim to none! I can't believe that some people have NO sympathy for this guy! The credit union should be ashamed of themselves for not ponying up the money THEY allowed to go out on his checks that were FORGED!

I really am appreciative and appaled all at the same time of the remarks made towards the article on Shawn Burke. Thank you Bangor Daily News for running this article; without your coverage the residents of Bangor and surrounding communities where Maine Highlands Credit Union locations are held, no one would have ever known his situation. I however do know about the situation to a unmentionable amount! Furthermore, I am keenly aware this is not my battle, but I am affected by this situation just as much as Mr. Burke.

I see that there are some posted comments where past vets have made remark in regards to who is/is not at fault. I want to take a moment and sincerely thank those vets for their previous service as it is appreciated! More so, keep in mind before making hast remarks that we are not in the era of the Vietnam War, nor is technology lacking. This is the present time we are dealing with, not the past. If you learned a lesson way back in the 'Nam' days about housing what monies were yours and learned harsh lessons in distrust for the banking system, my question is this: Do you currenlty have a checking, savings, CD, IRA, etc...accounts? If so, you remarks are a moot point in essence that you never learned any lesson of finances! If you do not hold any monies in any banks, then you are entitled to make any remark you please! Clearly you have shown distrust in the banking system by not allowing your funds to be held in such an instution.

Point of my post is this: 1) Yes, the "thieves" are responsible for stealing at a Federal Level, ie. forgery of a signature on a Maine Highlands check. 2) The signature was NEVER cross-referenced with Shawn Burke's actual signature on his bank card when he opened his account at Maine Highlands. 3) Maine Highlands WAS aware of his enlistment with the army, considering where his yearly income comes from is a Military account which was made payable to Shawn Burke! 4) His money is FDIC insured up to $100,000.00 dollars, just like everyone else's account that belongs to that bank. FDIC insured means local residents with accounts can not be held liable for lost funds, yet the bank is at a Federal level. 5) Regardless if he was on R&R, on leave for some reason, or even returning home from his first 15 month tour in Iraq does not negate the fact that money was stolen. Signatures were not varified. Funds were deposited by the government/military into his account, yet no one at the Union raised an eyebrow to the fact that multiple checks were cashed to local residents in which the forged checks were made out to...I reiterate, SIGNATURES of Shawn Burke's name were never cross referenced!!!!!!

I hate to think that even vets dismiss the flaws in the banking system, a system that they themselves distrust. It is human nature to be wrong, have flaws, and possibly admitting fault! Has the bank done anything besides refund close to $4,000.00? No. I'm sorry I do not live in your state and do not completly know the laws and bi-laws for the banking system, yet I am working on that! Shawn Burke is a soldier. A soldier who is fighting for freedoms that we Americans take effortlessly in vain; almost as if we are 'owed' the freedoms we have and disregard those who fought/fight for those freedoms! To be honest, if I was a soldier returning to my native land...the last thing on my mind would be varify my back account and see who stole from it! Even more, the fact that Shawn did not have an internet connection to keep up with the account he entrusted Maine Highlands would secure. Or possibly, why would a credit union send more than one box of checks out to Mr. Burke. Is it possible for one man to diminish one box of checks in a month or even six months? I highly doubt it. However, there is that internet connection.....does the public realize how impossible and non-user-friendly website Maine Highlands has? Or the fact that I was at a local branch this week (12/1/08) and the server was down....and I had been told it was down for the entire Union...YET, I went to the next town shortly after leaving the first location and the "Server" had no issues at all and the woman who helped could not understand why a previous representative stated there was a "server issue" and was astute in the fact that there were no such issues that I was told about. In fact, at both locations I was Never asked for proof of identification to locate my acount. Apparently all you need is the account number and a name to access information from the tellers!!!

So, is Shawn at fault. No, he was a victim of a Federal crime. Does Maine Highlands care?? No, they still receive compound interest off of his monies (pre and post forged checks) that are tied up in a system that does not care. I would love to know how much interest they earned while Mr. Burke's monies were sitting in an account while he was fighting a war..... Punish the thieves, but they won't pay. Most interesting fact is one thieve collects social security from the same government he stole from, never the less from the soldier who continues to put his life on the line!

"I say she can't be innocent if she is wanted by the police." Well, that's that then! Guilty because the cops want to talk to you! Brilliant deduction! And I'm pretty tired of carrying govenment employees on my back. I've got sympathy for this guy, but if I shouldn't get the money on the backs of other depositors, why should he? They're covering a portion and he'll get a judgment from the Court on the balance against the perpetrators. He may have a claim for negligence against the credit union, and should push it, but expanding rules further - I already pay my taxes to support the "war." I already pay my taxes to support the Federal Thrift Savings plan for all Federal employees (free matched deposit monies up to over $10,000.00 TAX FREE a year). I already pay my taxes to provide free medical and retirement to government employees. I've been paying these for decades and am pretty tired of it. I have to pay for all of my own. And all military personnel over there have the ability to check accounts. They even have "counselors" available to help them keep an eye on things back home. A friend of mine (actually, from Auburn, ME) was head of the commission in Iraq to oversee and attempt to limit corruption (aka a spooky operation). I see he just sold his house outside of D.C. for over $800,000.00. He was broke less than 10 years ago. Sorry, resources are available to the troops. Hopefully this Credit Union will do what it can to help, but the taxpayers are already footing the bill for the boondoggle we call Government.

THE ACCOUNTS OF THE BUSINESS AND INDIVIDUALS WHO CASHED THESE CHECKS SHOULD BE TAPED FOR THE AMOUNTS OF THE CHECKS. IT WAS THEIR RESPONISABILETY TO CHECK THE I.D. OF THE PERSON CASHING THE CHECKS. IF THE CREDIT UNION CASHED ANY OF THE CHECKS AT THEIR TELLER WINDOWS THEN I GUESS THEY NEED A NEW MANAGER.