Five people from Fresno have been indicted for their alleged involvement with a $1 million bank fraud scheme.
The defendants are Nyric Hinton, Zion Brewer, Zorian Temple, Davonntae Barfield and Harry Cooper, along with Los Angeles resident Abreiana Rogers.
The big picture: The six defendants have been charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
- Rogers also has been charged with four counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
- Hinton was charged with one count of bank fraud, and Temple and Barfield were also charged with two counts of bank fraud.
Driving the news: From April 2022 to Jan. 31, 2023, the defendants allegedly used Facebook to recruit bank account holders and promised them a cut of any fraudulent funds deposited into their accounts.
- They then used the accounts to deposit stolen and fraudulent checks.
- Brewer is a U.S. Postal Service employee who allegedly stole mail containing checks and other financial information and provided it to the other defendants.
- The defendants would then delete the fraudulently deposited funds from the accounts using electronic transfers and cash withdrawals. The defendants then shared the proceeds among themselves and others.
- The defendants also shared information about known weaknesses in the financial institutions’ fraud protection systems with each other to circumvent security measures. They also told account holders to claim that their accounts had been compromised if contacted by financial institutions about the deposits.
- In total, federal prosecutors allege that the defendants attempted at least $1 million in fraudulent transactions using over 100 bank accounts.
What we’re watching: If convicted, the defendants face a maximum of 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and for any count of bank fraud.
- Additionally, Rogers faces a two-year mandatory consecutive prison sentence for aggravated identity theft if convicted.
