Credit Union Employee Sentenced For Stealing $400,000

Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm sentenced Maxime Maiga, age 37, of Montgomery Village, Maryland, today to two years and a day followed by two years of supervised release for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.  Judge Grimm also entered an order that Maiga forfeit $11,000 and pay $400,000 in restitution.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Kathy A. Michalko of the United States Secret Service - Washington Field Office.

According to his plea, Maiga worked as a communication center associate at a Washington, D.C. credit union that provides financial services to individuals and their families associated with the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, and offers consumer banking services.

On January 8, 2013, Maiga fraudulently accessed and viewed identification documents and financial information of two account members of the credit union who were foreign nationals.  A few days later, Maiga again fraudulently accessed the victim members’ identification documents and printed one of the victim’s passport and membership eligibility form. On January 22, 2013, Maiga sent the identity documents to a co-conspirator, who faxed a letter to the credit union, bearing a forged signature of the victim and an altered copy of the victim’s diplomatic passport.  The letter requested the password for the victims’ credit union online banking account.  Maiga and his co-conspirators used the password for online access to change the victims’ email address and phone number.

On February 12, 2013, Maiga fraudulently asked another credit union employee to access and print one of the victim’s tax withholding forms and the victims’ signature cards. The requested documentation was provided to Maiga.  The next day, he and his co-conspirators fraudulently requested monthly automatic recurrent wire transfers of $200,000 each from the victims’ credit union account to a co-conspirator’s account.  On February 14, 2013, a conspirator used the documentation Maiga had fraudulently obtained to pose as one of the victims and obtain $200,000 from the victims’ account.  An additional $200,000 was transferred on March 1, 2013 as a result of the fraudulent request for automatic recurrent transfers.

The Maryland Identity Theft Working Group has been working since 2006 to foster cooperation among local, state, federal, and institutional fraud investigators and to promote effective prosecution of identity theft schemes by both state and federal prosecutors. This case, as well as other cases brought by members of the Working Group, demonstrates the commitment of law enforcement agencies to work with financial institutions and businesses to address identity fraud, identify those who compromise personal identity information, and protect citizens from identity theft.

Today’s announcement is part of efforts underway by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions and other organizations. Since the inception of FFETF in November 2009, the Justice Department has filed more than 12,841 financial fraud cases against nearly 18,737 defendants including nearly 3,500 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the U.S. Secret Service for its work in the investigation and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes, who prosecuted the case.