Former Bank Teller Charged With Selling Account Information
Patricia Lightsey, 27, of Willingboro, NJ, and James Hull, 49, of Troy, NY, were each charged yesterday by indictment with one count of bank fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft, announced United States Attorney Zane David Memeger.
Between July 2011 and October 2011, Lightsey worked as a teller at TD Bank. According to the indictment, Lightsey, sold to another person the identifying information, including dates of birth, driver's license numbers, social security numbers, and bank account numbers, of TD Bank individual and business customers. The person who bought the information from Lightsey then recruited others, including Hull, to allegedly utilize the identifying information to defraud TD Bank by fraudulently accessing the bank accounts and by cashing counterfeit checks drawn on the customers’ accounts. It is further alleged that in order to access the accounts, Hull and others were typically provided with false identification documents bearing their photographs but containing the names of the true account holders. Between July 2011 and April 2012, the fraud scheme netted the defendants a total of $170, 820.
Lightsey and Hull each face a maximum sentence of 34 years imprisonment and a mandatory minimum of at least two years in prison. They also each face a $1.5 million fine and a $300 special assessment.
The case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael S. Lowe.
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, EASTERN DISTRICTof PENNSYLVANIA
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