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Nine Charged in Multi-Million Dollar Leased-Funds Accounts Fraud
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Nine Charged in Multi-Million Dollar Leased-Funds Accounts Fraud Conspiracy
PR Newswire
NEW YORK, March 31
Defendants Include Owner and Employees of Financial Services
Company and Two Bank Employees
NEW YORK, March 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Nine defendants, including
the owner and seven employees and associates of Apogee Financial, Inc.,
and two Wells Fargo bankers, were charged in a complaint filed in Brooklyn
federal court today with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, announced Benton
J. Campbell, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and
Brian G. Parr, Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the
U.S. Secret Service.
The defendants allegedly engaged in a wide-ranging scheme to defraud
individuals of the fees they paid to "lease" funds from Apogee by
providing them with fraudulent "proof of funds" documentation printed on
bank stationery and purportedly signed by collusive bank employees. As a
result, Apogee customers were defrauded of more than $7 million.
Previously, federal agents executed search warrants at three Apogee
offices in Georgia and Michigan and seized approximately $4.5 million in
proceeds from the fraud scheme.
According to the complaint, some financial services companies "lease"
funds to customers by opening bank accounts in the customers' names and
depositing funds into the accounts ("leased-funds accounts") for a
predetermined period of time. The customers obtain a Proof of Funds letter
("POF") from the bank, which they can use to improve their apparent
creditworthiness when applying for loans or seeking credit from lending
institutions. POF documents are typically prepared by banks and other
financial institutions to verify the balance of funds in a particular bank
account.
As alleged in the complaint, Apogee advertised its leased funds services
on www.craigstlist.com and through various brokers, and offered to lease
funds to borrowers for a short period of time, often 60 days, in exchange
for fees ranging from $40,000 for a leased-funds account of $2 million, to
over $300,000 for leased funds accounts of $750,000,000 or more. However,
Apogee never actually provided any funds, but instead simply printed
fraudulent POF documents on bank stationery -- including Bank of America,
JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Wachovia Bank -- which falsely
represented that the funds were held in an account at one of those banks
in the borrower's name. Apogee allegedly paid collusive bank employees,
including defendants Jinnate Glasper and Dayana Mendoza of Wells Fargo, to
falsely verify the existence of the leased-funds accounts when clients
called to ensure that the funds were in place.
"These defendants took advantage of the level of good faith and fair
dealing in our financial system to line their own pockets," stated U.S.
Attorney Campbell. "Now they will be held to account for those lies." Mr.
Campbell expressed his grateful appreciation to the U.S. Secret Service,
the agency responsible for conducting the government's investigation.
Secret Service Special Agent-in-Charge Parr stated, "The Secret Service
actively continues to adapt our investigative techniques to progressively
combat contemporary threats posed to our nation's financial
infrastructure."
If convicted, the defendants face a maximum sentence of 30 years of
imprisonment.
The government's case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys
Zainab Ahmad and Duncan Levin.
The Defendants:
Aisha Hall
Age: 25
Marcel Asbell
Age: 26
Jerjuan Gardner
Age: 26
Yolande Reeves
Age: 39
Samuel Jones
Age: 28
Jacqueline Lambert
Age: 40
Ray Kim
Age: 43
Jinnate Glasper
Age: 32
Dayana Mendoza
Age: 24
SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice
Website:
http://www.USDOJ.gov
Contact: Robert Nardoza for United States Attorney Benton J. Campbell
Eastern District of New York, +1-718-254-6323, Fax, +1-718-254-6300
Last Updated: March 31, 2009 19:15 EDT
