Press Release
Contact:
HAGEN W. FRANK
ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY
PHONE: (616) 456-2406
CALIFORNIA-BASED IDENTITY THEFT AND BANK FRAUD RING INDICTED
FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2009 -
Grand Rapids, Michigan - U.S. Attorney Donald A. Davis announced the filing yesterday of
the third indictment in the on-going investigation of an alleged identity theft and bank fraud ring based
in Oakland, California. The filing of this latest indictment brings the total number of defendants to 14,
including a former Bank of America (BOA) employee who allegedly assisted the fraud ring by selling account information and personal identifying information of BOA account holders, information that
was then used to make fraudulent high-value cash withdrawals from BOA branches across the United
States, including the Western District of Michigan.
The case, which is being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, came to light on January 9, 2008, when employees of a BOA branch in Grand Rapids notified the Wyoming Police Department that a person had just attempted to make a large cash withdrawal under suspicious circumstances. Wyoming officers responded within minutes and arrested four suspects as they were driving away from the bank branch. Members of the Metropolitan Fraud and Identity Theft Team (MFITT), working out of the Wyoming Police Department under the direction of Chief James Carmody, began the investigation, notifying the Grand Rapids office of the U.S. Secret Service within hours of the arrests when they developed evidence indicating that the activity under investigation reached well beyond Grand Rapids.
Of the 14 charged defendants, six are presently in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service for the Western District of Michigan. A seventh defendant is in U.S. Marshals custody en route from the Northern District of California, where she was arrested. Three other defendants remain at large, and the remaining defendants are on bond in California pending trial in Federal court in Grand Rapids.
The defendants are: Alonzo Lamar Holloway, Kamillah Rasheda Brown, Shawncy Joanne McGowan, Kirk Jerome Usher, Kevin Erwin, Mark Allen Samuels, Doneisha Lanee Bruce, Cynthia Denise Williams, Trayshun Annette Leonard, Dale Louise Wilson, Willie Jesus Leblanc, Laquida Breshuin Pratt, Mocha Myesha Aldridge, and Alaiya Minyonne Kennard, all of Oakland, California.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagen W. Frank.
The charges in an Indictment are only allegations of criminal conduct, and the defendants are presumed innocent until their guilt is established in court by proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
END
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