A US bank and credit union have now been drained of millions of dollars in the latest fraud scheme, according to federal prosecutors.
A total of six people are being accused of attempting to steal over $5 million dollars from Minnesota’s Twin Cities banks and credit unions.
“A Chicago man and five others have been indicted on charges of running a scheme that stole more than $1.5 million from businesses by cashing stolen checks at Twin Cities banks,” reported KIMT 3 News.
Willie Roy Turner Jr., 29, of Chicago, is the lead defendant in the case.
A grand jury indicted him and five co-conspirators on June 26.
Turner Jr. faces charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
The other defendants include Marc Anderson, Billy Ray Cameron Jr., Devontay Colbert, Dontae Williams, and Takiya Shemwell, all from Chicago.
How They Did It: Details of the Fraud Scheme
Federal prosecutors investigate a Minnesota fraud scheme.
According to the reports, they allegedly opened fake or unauthorized accounts in the name of those businesses, used fake IDs, and deposited checks stolen from the mail.
After depositing the checks, the defendants withdrew the money through cash withdrawals or cashier’s check purchases.
In total, they tried to deposit checks worth more than $5.1 million at Twin Cities financial institutions.
Shemwell worked for the U.S. Postal Service in Chicago.
Frank Nez is an American entrepreneur, journalist, writer, and investor. Frank's work has been cited by SEC and Congressional reports. Franknez.com is a personal finance and market news publication, dedicated to publishing content on money, investing, entrepreneurship, and retail investor news.
