The former top executive of Credit Union Group was charged in federal court this week with making a false report to the National Credit Union Administration Board.

If convicted, Mark E. Kasson, 38, would face up to 30 years in federal prison and as much as $1 million in fines.

The Lawrence resident had been the chief executive officer of Credit Union Group, which has three affiliates including Free State Credit Union in Lawrence, until he went on leave in March 2006.

He is accused of making a bogus entry in the company’s records on Jan. 10, 2006, to show that $3 million in loans had been sold to other credit unions.

The federal complaint from U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren’s office said that Kasson’s false entry was done deliberately to mislead auditors from the administration board and the Kansas Department of Credit Unions into thinking that the $3 million would no longer be a liability of Credit Union Group.

The same month that Kasson went on leave, the Kansas Department of Credit Unions placed Credit Union Group under a state-controlled conservatorship to manage the company’s finances until its financial troubles could be resolved.

John Smith, administrator of the state’s department, said Friday that the federal case played a role in the decision to place Credit Union Group under state control last year.

“There were other reasons that I placed the credit union under the conservatorship,” Smith said. “But yes, this was one of them.”

Smith declined to reveal the other reasons for his decision, but added that the conservatorship was dissolved Wednesday, returning control of Credit Union Group to a group of volunteer board members.

“The matters that caused it to be a conservatorship have been resolved,” Smith said.

Jason Hans, an attorney representing Kasson, declined to comment on the federal charge.

Credit Union Group serves more than 5,000 members.

As of March, it had $10,723,792 in assets, down from the $20.5 million it had on Dec. 31, 2005.