Houston Cousins Sentenced for Conspiring to Commit Bank Fraud

HOUSTON – Two family members have been ordered to federal prison following their convictions for conspiracy and committing bank fraud, announced United States Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Tonya Beverly, 39, and her cousin Demetria Jones, 41, pleaded guilty in February 2015 and August 2014, respectively.

Today, U.S. District Judge Gray H. Miller ordered Beverly to serve a total of 63 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. Jones received a sentenced of 12 months and one day in prison at a hearing held yesterday. Both were ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $106,383.51.

Beverly admitting to creating false and fraudulent USAA Federal Savings Bank accounts using stolen personal and financial identification information and stealing $205,719 from those accounts. Beverly stole the personal information from patient files of health care providers for whom she worked and admitted to using a phone that was fraudulently registered in the name of another victim of identity theft. Jones was photographed withdrawing cash from ATM machines on two of the fraudulent accounts and the court heard how Jones performed hundreds of account transactions on those cards, one of which was activated with a pre-paid phone.

At the hearing today, the court heard about the complex and sophisticated nature of the fraud scheme, which involved using the USAA Internet and telephone banking systems to conduct thousands of banking transactions, and the use of fraudulent home addresses, fake email addresses and fake phone numbers in addition to all the stolen personal identification information. In less than two years, the conspirators created 33 fraudulent accounts and transferred approximately $205,719 into those accounts from the real bank accounts of at least 35 individuals, affecting 16 different banks.

Several of the victims were elderly or sick, including one who was born in 1922 and one who was born in 1929. The amount of loss for each victim varied to sums up to $24,000. Debit cards issued by USAA in the victims’ real names were received by the conspirators at homes that had been listed for sale or vacant. The conspirators then used the cards to withdraw cash from ATM machines, including machines located in Hawaii and Texas, and to make purchases, including plane tickets to Los Angeles, California.

USAA Federal Savings Bank, a financial institution insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, credited and returned the stolen money to the individual victims and their banks.

USAA suffered a total loss of $106,383.51 which the court ordered Beverly and Jones to repay as restitution.

A third conspirator, Leatrice Reynaud, 45, of Houston, is scheduled for sentencing on Oct. 2, 2015.

The investigation leading to the charges was conducted by the U.S. Secret Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Redlinger prosecuted the case.