A Mississippi insurance regulator who was initially placed on administrative leave after being named in a $95 million federal fraud lawsuit has now been fired.
Chad Bridges joined the Mississippi Insurance Department in 2004 and was appointed director of the Financial and Market Regulation Division in 2024.
According to a lawsuit filed by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), Bridges and his wife, former JAFCU CEO Leigh Bridges, allegedly transferred tens of millions of dollars from the credit union into personal accounts. The suit claims Leigh Bridges initially moved funds into her own accounts and later transferred money into Chad Bridges' account after regulators began investigating. The complaint alleges the money was used for luxury purchases including jewelry, vehicles, and real estate.
The couple's lavish taste is on display in a recent Mississippi Magazine home-design feature highlighting French Country-inspired furnishings and high-end finishes inside their restored 1857 home in Hiazlehurst, Miss.
On May 14, the NCUA filed a civil lawsuit against the couple alleging that, from 2014 to 2026, Leigh Bridges moved more than $51 million from the credit union's general ledger and transferred those funds to her share accounts and her husband's share accounts. She allegedly created false accounting entries to conceal the missing funds.
Mississippi's Insurance Department has been aware of the lawsuit since May 29, when the civil complaint and a temporary restraining order were hand-delivered to an administrative assistant to Commissioner Mike Chaney, according to court documents.
Attorney Billy Quinn of Ridgeland, Miss., who represents Chad Bridges, declined to comment Wednesday.
U.S. District Court Judge Daniel P. Jordan in Jackson, Miss., granted the NCUA a temporary restraining order that froze 13 financial accounts held by the former CEO and her husband. The TRO also prevents the transfer of five properties the couple purchased in Mississippi, Alabama and Honduras; four vehicles (two Tesla Model Ys and two Mercedes-Benz vehicles); artwork; jewelry; handbags; clothing and cash-value life insurance policies.
However, court documents did not indicate the extent to which Chad Bridges was aware of his wife's alleged conduct.
Chad Bridges had two Jackson Area share accounts. In 2024, NCUA examiners spoke with Leigh Bridges concerning the high volume of funds moving through her credit union share accounts. After that conversation, she closed those accounts but allegedly routed millions of dollars through her husband's share accounts.
A Jackson Area analysis showed that false entries totaling $26.8 million were transferred into Chad Bridges' accounts. Although the transactions listed financial institutions such as Acorns Investing, American Express and JPMorgan Chase Bank, the funds actually came from the credit union's general ledger, according to court documents. In addition, transfers totaling nearly $200,000 were made from Chad Bridges' share accounts to family members of Leigh Bridges.
During an April meeting with two Jackson Area board members and two NCUA examiners, Leigh Bridges admitted that she had been transferring funds from the credit union's general ledger to her personal accounts so she would have sufficient funds to make extensive personal purchases. She asserted that the amount missing was less than $94 million and that she possessed enough assets to sell and repay the funds.
Although Leigh Bridges did not specifically admit to transferring Jackson Area funds into her husband's accounts, the NCUA argued in its motion for a preliminary injunction that there were significant indicators of fraud supporting its position.
"Given that Leigh Bridges admitted to misappropriation, and considering the transfers from the accounts to her relatives and to several high-end jewelers, the available evidence suggests that she exercised control over JAFCU accounts for the benefit of the Defendants, and that Chad Bridges was a nominal title holder of the JAFCU accounts," the NCUA stated in its preliminary injunction filing.
The NCUA also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction against Tina Funez, a former Jackson Area branch manager, after she was added as a third defendant, along with Leigh and Chad Bridges, in an amended civil lawsuit filed Monday.
The amended complaint alleged that Leigh Bridges spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy Funez high-end jewelry, 40 designer handbags valued at approximately $2,000 each, a 2023 Tesla Model Y and a Rolex watch that Funez said was a gift from Chad Bridges.
Leigh Bridges provided Funez with an American Express card linked to the former CEO's account, authorizing her to make purchases. Between 2021 and 2025, Funez accumulated more than $508,000 in charges on the card, which were paid by Bridges, according to the amended complaint.
What's more, Funez said Bridges assisted her in purchasing a single-family home in Utila, Honduras, which had once been owned by Funez's grandmother. Utila is a small Caribbean island that is part of Honduras' Bay Islands.
Funez also took multiple vacations and trips with Leigh Bridges. According to the amended complaint, all travel expenses, including chartered private airplanes and jets, were paid by the former CEO.
The original version of this article published on CU Times, a sister site of PropertyCasualty360.com.
Peter Strozniak can be reached at peter.strozniak@arc-network.com.
(Featured image credit: Devon Yu/Adobe Stock)
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.