Man sentenced to 3 years in prison for $345,000 bank fraud scheme in western WA

A man was sentenced to three years in prison for organizing a bank fraud scheme that stole more than $345,000 from a western Washington credit union.

Dangelo Roberts, 23, used credit union information stolen by a credit union employee so he and other conspirators could take over the accounts and steal the funds. The employee at the credit union, Aneicia Ford, 33, worked there briefly in order to steal account information.

“What you did was serious,” Judge Jamal N. Whitehead said. “It caused real financial harm.”

Roberts then used false IDs to get newly issued debit cards and to make withdrawals from the victims’ accounts. He often made these withdrawals in person at various branches of the credit union.

“Roberts directed the coconspirators on how to impersonate the account holders and commit the fraud,” the Department of Justice stated. “Roberts also coached the conspirators to spend victims’ funds by ordering cashier’s checks or purchasing postal money orders that were made payable to him, other conspirators, or their associates.”

In total, Roberts’ scheme stole $345,014 from account holders. Whitehead determined Roberts was responsible for $146,016 in loss, an amount he has to pay in restitution.

Six people were charged in the scheme. The credit union has fully reimbursed customers who lost money to the co-schemers.

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