Rhode Island Man Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Masterminding Bank Fraud Conspiracy, Identity Theft, Passing Counterfeit Money

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – David Alcantara, 33, of Warwick, has been sentenced to 60 months in federal prison for masterminding an elaborate conspiracy to defraud two Rhode Island banks of nearly $600,000, by using stolen personal identifying information of several unsuspecting individuals, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Ted A. Arruda, Resident Agent in Charge of the Providence Office of the U.S. Secret Service.

A federal court jury convicted Alcantara on May 1, 2015, of leading the conspiracy to defraud the banks and for leading a conspiracy to convert counterfeit $100 bills into real American dollars by making small retail purchases with bogus $100 bills and receiving cash back in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

The jury convicted Alcantara of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, eight counts of aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to pass counterfeit money.

According to the government’s evidence presented at trial, in December 2009 and January 2010, Alcantara’s schemes resulted in the transfer of over $600,000 from bank accounts of legitimate bank customers into accounts fraudulently created with the use of several individuals’ stolen identities. Money was then withdrawn from the fraudulent accounts in the form of cashier’s checks.

In one scheme, Alcantara was responsible for the use of stolen identifying information belonging to a small business owner in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to affect in Rhode Island the transfer of $250,000 from the company’s business account into a newly opened fraudulent bank account. The account was opened using stolen identifying information of an individual who is deceased.

In a second scheme, Alcantara provided others with stolen identifying information of unsuspecting individuals and instructed them on how to use the information to establish fraudulent bank accounts at several branch offices of the same bank. Alcantara also provided them with stolen identifying information of legitimate owners of existing accounts at the same bank and instructed them to transfer funds from the legitimate accounts into the fraudulent accounts.

According to the government’s evidence, at the same time that Alcantara was affecting the bank fraud schemes, he reached out to an individual he thought could assist him in obtaining fraudulent Massachusetts drivers’ licenses. The individual he reached out to was in fact an undercover DEA agent. The DEA agent, working in conjunction with U.S. Secret Service Agents who were investigating Alcantara and the bank fraud schemes and the passing of bogus $100 bills, recorded several conversations he had with Alcantara as he attempted to secure the fraudulent IDs.

Alcantara has been detained since the date of his conviction.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sandra R. Hebert and Lee H. Vilker.

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