New York Man Sentenced in Rhode Island for Bank Fraud

PROVIDENCE   A Bronx, NY, man who participated in a conspiracy that intended to defraud banks in at least ten states of approximately $143,000 was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island, announced Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom.

Paul Keenan, 54, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., to    24 months of incarceration to be followed by three years of supervised release. Keenan, charged and arrested in this matter in August 2024, pleaded guilty in February to a charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

According to court documents, Keenan, working alongside other members of a conspiracy, to facilitate their scheme, recruited and organized individuals and obtained their photographs and personal identifying information (PII). Keenan and his co-conspirators used the information to create fraudulent IDs that contained their own photographs and the PII of some of the recruits.

Keenan and others then obtained the PII of at least 28 victim individuals, including their names, dates of birth, addresses, Social Security numbers, and bank account information. They also obtained information of at least 20 business entities, including business names and banking information. The information collected was used to create fraudulent IDs and checks. Members of the conspiracy then traveled with recruits to banks in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and at least eight other states to cash bogus checks.

Through the scheme, Keenan and others attempted to defraud banks of a total of approximately $143,000, successfully defrauding twenty-two banks of a total of approximately $93,200.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christine Lowell with the assistance of Assistant United States Attorney Sandra Hebert.

The matter was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the East Providence Police Department, with the assistance of the Portsmouth Police Department.

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