Brooklyn Man Charged With Bank Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft

An Indictment[1] was unsealed today charging Bright Ogodo, 42, of Brooklyn, New York, with one counts of bank fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft, announced Acting United States Attorney Louis D. Lappen.

The Indictment alleges that Ogodo recruited other persons, referred to as “runners,” to pose as TD Bank customers by using false drivers’ licenses supplied by Ogodo and means of identification of the TD Bank customers, including their names, social security numbers, and dates of birth. The Indictment alleges that Ogodo drove the runners to TD Bank branches in the Philadelphia area, as well as in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Delaware, gave the runners the false drivers’ licenses and other means of identification, and instructed them how to access the TD Bank customers’ accounts. The Indictment alleges that the runners, and defendant Ogodo himself, deposited large-dollar counterfeit checks and small amounts of cash and money orders into the bank accounts, thereby learning the account numbers (if they were not already known) and also as a way of being able to know the exact date, location, and amount of the last deposit into the account, which co-schemers then used to set up on-line access to the accounts. The Indictment alleges that runners posing as the true account holders obtained new ATM cards tied to the TD Bank customers’ checking accounts, and then one or more co-schemers, including defendant Ogodo himself, began to deplete the funds in that checking account by using the newly-obtained ATM cards to withdraw cash and purchase merchandise and money orders. The Indictment alleges that one or more co-schemers often transferred funds from the TD Bank customers’ existing home equity lines of credit (HELOC) into the checking accounts that were tied to the ATM cards in the possession of defendant Ogodo and other co-schemers, which allowed defendant Ogodo and other co-schemers to obtain over $579,000 from the TD Bank accounts. The Indictment further alleges that defendant Ogodo and his co-schemers intended to cause TD Bank to sustain more than $785,000 in losses, as that is the amount of counterfeit checks and HELOC and other transfers made into the checking accounts tied to the ATM cards in the co-schemers’ possession.

Ogodo faces a maximum sentence of 34 years’ imprisonment, including a mandatory minimum two-year term of imprisonment, a five-year period of supervised release, a $1,500,000 fine, and a $300 special assessment and restitution of $597,107.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael S. Lowe.