Washington, PA Man Sentenced for Check-Kiting Scheme Targeting Local Credit Unions

PITTSBURGH, PA - A resident of Washington, PA, has been sentenced in federal court to six months’ imprisonment and five years of supervised release on his conviction of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.

United States District Judge Arthur J. Schwab imposed the sentence on Wednesday on Solomon Chambers, Sr., age 52, of Washington.

According to information presented to the court, from July 14, 2016 to July 23, 2016, Chambers and a co-conspirator executed a check-kiting scheme in the Washington area, which defrauded Members 1st Federal Credit Union and Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union. Chambers and a co-conspirator deposited non-sufficient checks into bank accounts that they had opened at those credit unions, using ATMs with a different bank. The conspirators then made cash withdrawals or point-of-sale purchases that rendered those accounts overdrawn before the insufficiency was discovered by the financial institutions. The credit unions suffered a total loss of $28,425.74.

Assistant United States Attorney Adam N. Hallowell prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

United States Attorney Brady commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Solomon Chambers, Sr.