Conspirator Sentenced in Scheme to Use Stolen Identities to Withdraw Money from Victims’ Bank Accounts and Obtain Credit

Greenbelt, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr. sentenced Lawrence Irvin Green, age 45, of Brentwood, Maryland to six years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for conspiring to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in a scheme to use stolen identification information to withdraw money from victims’ bank accounts and obtain credit. Judge Williams also ordered Green to pay restitution of $38,259.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; and Acting Postal Inspector in Charge Peter R. Rendina of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division.

“Today’s sentence demonstrates the commitment of Postal Inspectors to vigorously pursue those who use U.S. mail for fraudulent activities,” said Acting Postal Inspector in Charge Peter R. Rendina, U.S. Postal Inspection Service - Washington Division. “At every level, we will always make every effort to protect postal customers from unscrupulous individuals.”

According to his plea agreement, from June 2008 to December 2009, Green and others participated in a scheme to steal identification information of other individuals in order to withdraw money from the victims’ bank accounts and secure credit in their names. In order to steal identification information, co-defendants Ibraheem Majekodunmi and Keith Parker would request that the U.S. Postal Service hold victims’ mail, which they would retrieve, sometimes using fake state identification cards in the victims’ names. Other times, co-defendant Kim Henson stole checks from mailboxes in Prince George’s County and elsewhere; and Majekodunmi stole victims’ identification information with the help of co-conspirators employed by banks where victims maintained accounts.

Green and other defendants withdrew cash from the victims’ bank accounts; caused checks and transfers to be issued from bank accounts held by the victims; and created and used counterfeit checks that were purportedly drawn on the victims’ accounts. Green and Majekodumni also used the stolen identification information to obtain credit in the names of the victims, and to create new bank accounts in the victims’ names to deposit and then use the stolen funds. Majekodunmi and Parker also deposited stolen funds in the bank accounts of others whom they would compensate, and then Green and Parker would obtain cashier’s checks drawn on those accounts to withdraw cash from those accounts.

Majekodunmi accessed victims’ bank accounts on-line and changed their contact information to a telephone number controlled by Majekodunmi and to the address of abandoned property to avoid the detection of the thefts.

The defendants shared the stolen funds which totaled between $200,00 and $400,000.

On November 18, 2008, postal inspectors interviewed Green who admitted to using a victim’s stolen identity to buy car insurance. Green is responsible for at least $186,926 in losses from between 10 and 50 victims.

Five of the six defendants have pleaded guilty to their participation in the scheme. Sentencing is scheduled for Keith Parker, age 38, of Bladensburg, Maryland on August 30; Kim Henson, age 45, of Washington, D.C. on October 26; Joann Kinard, age 58, of Brentwood, Maryland, on November 1; and Ibraheem Majekodunmi, age 26, of Hyattsville, Maryland on November 16; all in 2012. Princess Smith, age 27, of Trenton, New Jersey is currently a fugitive.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for its work in the investigation and thanked Assistant United States Attorney Robert Hur, who prosecuted the case.