Two Lockport Men Indicted On Fruad Charges

CONTACT: Barbara Burns

PHONE: (716) 843-5817

FAX #: (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that a federal grand jury has returned an eight-count indictment charging Michael Rosier, 22, and Cody Kross-Rosier, 22, both of Lockport, NY, with bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in jail and a $1,000,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney MaryEllen Kresse, who is handling the case, stated that according to the indictment, between January and March 2014, Rosier and Kross-Rosier conspired with others to execute a scheme to defraud seven federally insured financial institutions.

The scheme involved the use of existing bank accounts and the opening of new accounts in an effort to obtain or attempt to obtain money, services, and merchandise totaling approximately $123,000. The defendants floated checks between the accounts in an effort to prevent the financial institutions from discovering that the respective accounts contained insufficient funds to cover the checks deposited or written. On one occasion, in January 2014, Rosier and Kross-Rosier deposited a $100,000 check into an account Kross-Rosier had at Citizens Bank. The check was drawn on a closed account that Kross-Rosier had at Bank of America. Thereafter, Rosier, Kross-Rosier, and others attempted to obtain money and merchandise with the proceeds of the fraudulent check, including an attempted transfer of $5,000 to an E*TRADE account controlled by Rosier, and the attempted purchase of approximately $16,000 in merchandise from Men’s Wearhouse, in Amherst, NY.

The defendants will be arraigned on February 21, 2017, at 11:15 a.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy.

The indictment is the result of an investigation by the United States Secret Service, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Lewis Robinson.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

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