Canadian Citizen Sentenced For Bank Fraud

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
PHONE:         (716) 843-5817
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BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Panagiota Loukisas, 57, of North York, Ontario, Canada, who was convicted of bank fraud, was sentenced to 14 months by Chief U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth R. Moellering, who handled 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 the five U.S. 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 sentencing 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.