Bank Fraud Co-Conspirator Pleads Guilty

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Carlos Banegas-Contreras, age 46, entered a guilty plea to one count of Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud, punishable by up to 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.

The Second Superseding Indictment alleged that in June 2023, Banegas-Contreras and others knowingly and willfully conspired to commit bank fraud.  On June 23, 2023, Banegas-Contreras and other co-conspirators used fake identification cards to cash 178 fraudulent paychecks totaling $299,474 at five branches of the same local bank and three check cashing businesses in the Eastern District of Oklahoma. The fraudulent paychecks were designed to look like they had been issued by a building materials supply company in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

The charge arose from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with valuable assistance from:  Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven J. Lupa, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana; Homeland Security Investigations; the United States Secret Service; the Indiana State Police, the Benton County, Indiana Sheriff’s Department; the Benton County, Indiana Prosecutor’s Office; the Poteau, Oklahoma Police Department; and the Houston, Texas Police Department.

The Honorable D. Edward Snow, U.S. Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, accepted the plea and ordered the completion of a presentence investigation report.

A U.S. District Court Judge will determine the sentence to be imposed after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Banegas-Contreras will remain in the custody of the United States Marshals Service pending sentencing.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kara Traster and Jordan W. Howanitz represented the United States.