California Man Sentenced for Bank Fraud and Identity Theft
Identity Theft Sentencing and Plea Identify over $200,000 in Fraud in Multi-state Crime Spree
BOISE – Justine Lingatong, 24, of Carson, California, was sentenced in United States District Court today to 60 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge ordered Lingtong to pay restitution in the amount of $189,960.
Lingatong, 24, of Carson, California, pled guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft on January 23, 2012. According to his plea agreement, on seven occasions between January 11 and January 13, 2011, Lingatong entered Wells Fargo Bank branches in the Treasure Valley and presented false identification showing his picture and the name of a genuine Wells Fargo account holder. He also presented the Wells Fargo account number of the person he was impersonating. Lingatong admitted that on each occasion he withdrew funds from the victim's Wells Fargo account. In January 2011, law enforcement arrested two females traveling with Lingtong who were committing similar crimes. Lingatong, however, evaded arrest at that time. The two females, Janelyn Dasig and Luisa Lamonthe, have been charged and sentenced to prison terms of 48 and 44 months, respectively. Lingatong was identified after he was arrested in Arkansas.
Both Lingtong and Lamonthe admitted in their plea agreements that they committed similar customer impersonation bank frauds in Arizona and Utah, sometimes traveling together. Lingatong also admitted similar frauds in New Mexico. The total loss from all of these frauds was over $200,000. Lingtong’s restitution of $189,960 is part of this total.
“Identity theft creates financial havoc and disrupts lives,” said Olson. “It is serious criminal conduct that warrants the serious penalty imposed in this case. Mr. Lingatong will spend the next five years in federal prison and must make restitution to his victims. We will continue to work with our federal and local law enforcement partners to aggressively prosecute identity thieves.”
The cases were investigated by U.S. Secret Service and the Boise Police Department, with assistance from Wells Fargo.
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