FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	ANGELA DODGE
May 15, 2008	PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/TXS	(713) 567-9388

AMEGY BANK EMPLOYEE SENTENCED FOR IDENTITY THEFT

(HOUSTON, Texas) - Former Amegy Bank senior banker Lamont Wallace, 34, of Houston, Texas, has been sentenced to 36 months in federal prison, U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today. U.S. District Judge Sim Lake also sentenced co-defendant Ifeyhewen Badidi, a 34-year-old illegal immigrant from Liberia, to 57 months in federal prison. 

Wallace pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, while Badidi pleaded guilty to mail fraud and aggravated identity theft. Wallace was also ordered to serve three years supervised release after he completes his prison term. It is expected that Badidi will be deported after he has served his sentence.

Senior banker Lamont Wallace acquired the personal bank account information of Amegy Bank customers and sold the information to an individual named Chukwemeka Felix Iroh. Iroh and Badidi used that information to unlawfully transfer funds from the accounts to other bank accounts the conspirators had established using the stolen identity of others. Investigators discovered a total of $161,000 unlawfully transferred from the compromised Amegy Bank accounts. Bank investigators detected the scheme and froze the funds before the conspirators could withdraw the money.

Iroh, a Nigerian national, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft and is scheduled to be sentenced May 22, 2008. Both Badidi and Iroh have been in federal custody since there arrest in May 2007. Wallace has been permitted to remain free on bond pending an order to surrender to a Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

This case was investigated by Inspectors of the United States Postal Inspection Service and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jay Hileman.  

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