Canadian Citizen Pleads Guilty To Bank Fraud

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
PHONE:         (716) 843-5817
FAX:            (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Acting Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Panagiota Loukisas, 57, of North York, Ontario, Canada, pleaded guilty to bank fraud before Chief U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth R. Moellering, who is handling the case, stated that in November 2014, the defendant opened accounts at five banks in Niagara Falls, NY. Loukisas deposited checks drawn on a Canadian bank account held by her company, PM Global Consulting Services, into these five accounts. The defendant then withdrew significant sums of money from the Niagara Falls bank accounts before the checks were returned to the banks for insufficient funds. Loukisas is accused of fraudulently depositing non-sufficient fund checks valued at more than $83,000 and withdrawing more than $52,000 from the accounts before the scheme was discovered.

The plea is the culmination of an investigation by Special Agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Kelly.

Sentencing is scheduled for January 16, 2018 at 11:30 a.m. before Judge Geraci