Guy Joseph Manzo Pleads Guilty In U.S. Federal Court

The United States Attorney(s Office announced that during a federal court session in Missoula, on September 24, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy, GUY JOSEPH MANZO, a 62-year-old resident of North Babylon, New York, pled guilty to wire fraud. Sentencing has been set for January 8, 2014. He is currently released on special conditions.

In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Racicot, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

On January 3, 2011, MANZO, who lives in New York, opened checking and savings accounts with Glacier Bank in Montana using the bank's online account opening services. The checking account number ended in 0308 and the savings account number ended in 0338. On January 12, 2011, MANZO opened a second checking account with Glacier Bank, ending in 0391.

In February 2011, MANZO attempted to fund the checking account ending in 0308 with three bad checks, totaling $9,252. Shortly thereafter, on March 1, 2011, Glacier Bank closed and charged off MANZO's 0308 account in the amount of $318.01. After the account was closed, he continued to write checks against the account. Between March and October 2011, MANZO wrote 36 bad checks against the closed 0308 account for a combined total of $175,042. Thirty-four of these checks, worth $173,000, were made payable to "Citibanks Mastercard." Each of the checks contain MANZO's signature.

In September 2011, MANZO successfully made 21 fraudulent ACH transfers, totaling $16,057.36, from an account with Glacier Bank that did not belong to him. Eleven of those transfers, totaling $887.42, were for his personal benefit. The other ten, totaling $15,071.94, were made for the benefit of his girlfriend (name withheld to protect privacy). Glacier Bank discovered the fraudulent transfers on September 30, 2011.

Finally, between October 2011 and January 2012, MANZO attempted 54 fraudulent ACH transfers, for a combined total of $45,325.61, which were ultimately unsuccessful. Those 54 attempted transfers did not process because they were attempted against closed accounts or accounts that did not exist. It appears MANZO attempted those fraudulent transactions by guessing Glacier Bank customer account numbers. Twelve of the attempted transfers, totaling $1,814.16, were made for the benefit of MANZO himself, and 42, totaling $43,511.45, were made for the benefit of his girlfriend.

On February 15, 2012, a Secret Service agent interviewed MANZO. MANZO confirmed that he had several accounts through Glacier Bank, but stated that the accounts were closed and no longer available for his use. When presented with copies of the checks written on his closed Glacier account, MANZO confirmed his signature and admitted he had negotiated the checks despite knowing the account was closed. MANZO said he wrote the checks to pay creditors in order to maintain his credit score, and explained that as long as creditors had the appearance of being paid, his credit score would stay in the low 700s. MANZO also explained that his girlfriend was battling cancer and that he is on disability for a back injury that he sustained while employed as a plumber. MANZO said he has no other source of income.

MANZO faces possible penalties of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 3 years supervised release.

The investigation was conducted by the United States Secret Service.