Providence Man Sentenced for Role in Counterfeit Check Scheme

PROVIDENCE – A Providence man who willingly participated in a bank fraud scheme that obtained the bank routing and account information of unsuspecting individuals, and later used that information to create and deposit counterfeit checks and withdraw funds, has been sentenced to two years in federal prison, announced United States Attorney Zachary A. Cunha.

In pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud, Julio Ariza, 27, previously admitted to a federal judge that from approximately October 28, 2020, to November 4, 2020, he arranged for, and coordinated the deposit of ,at least seven counterfeit checks, with the intent to defraud banks out of $102,694.38.

According to information presented to the court, Ariza recruited individuals to allow counterfeit checks to be deposited into their accounts; deposited counterfeit checks into those accounts; and aided and abetted in the withdrawal of funds from those accounts.

Ariza was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith on June 8, 2023,  to 24 months on incarceration to be followed by three years of supervised release. Ariza was ordered to pay restitution to banks totaling $22,976.21, which reflected the actual loss to banks due to his criminal conduct.

A co-defendant in this matter, Nestor Concepcion, 27, of Johnston, similarly charged, pleaded guilty on January 21, 2022, and was sentenced on April 25, 2022, to sixteen months of incarceration to be followed by four years of federal supervised release. Concepcion admitted to the court that the intended loss to banks due to his criminal conduct totaled $71,717.77.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ly T. Chin.

The matter was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service.

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