Jury Convicts Chesapeake Man of Auto Loan Fraud Scheme

NORFOLK, Va. – A federal jury convicted a Chesapeake man today on charges of credit union fraud and aggravated identity theft.

According to court records and evidence presented at trial, Adante Leshaun Dupree, 25, took part in a scheme to defraud Navy Federal Credit Union. Dupree and his co-conspirators bought the stolen identities of out-of-state victims using the darkweb, opened Navy Federal Credit Union accounts in their name, and applied for auto loans from the credit union in the names of the identity theft victims.  The conspirators then paid a woman to impersonate the identity theft victims, pick up the loan checks, and cash them at a Norfolk check cashing store. The scheme unraveled after the woman was caught trying to cash a second auto loan check while wearing a wig to impersonate a victim decades older than the impersonator’s true age. 

Dupree faces a maximum penalty of 30 years of in prison for the credit union fraud and a mandatory minimum consecutive sentence of two years for aggravated identity theft when he is sentenced on September 19. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Michael K. Lamonea, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Norfolk, Ashan M. Benedict, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Washington Field Division, and Larry D. Boone, Chief of Norfolk Police, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge Arenda Wright Allen accepted the verdict. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Bosse and Daniel T. Young are prosecuting the case.

The Virginia Army National Guard Counter Drug Task Force provided significant assistance in this investigation.

A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 2:18-cr-172-2.