US grand jury hears allegations against four Canadians, two Americans
Four Canadians are among a group standing trial in the US for an alleged multi-year scheme to steal millions of dollars from American consumers’ bank accounts.
A federal grand jury in Los Angeles returned an indictment charging six defendants, alleging that they were members and associates of a racketeering enterprise that unlawfully debited money from the bank accounts of unknowing US consumer-victims.
Canadians John Flynn, Shoaib Ahmad, Eric Crespin, and Lezli St. Hill stand accused alongside Americans Henry LoConti and Timothy Munoz of making unauthorized debits against victims’ bank accounts through shell entities that claimed to offer products and services such as cloud storage.
Although these bogus transactions were frequently returned, prosecutors say that the entities generated micro-payments from other accounts they controlled to try to keep the share of returned transactions below a level where financial institutions may have become suspicious.
All six defendants are charged with racketeering conspiracy and wire fraud and if found guilty could face up to 20 years in prison for racketeering conspiracy and 30 years in prison for each count of wire fraud.
“The scheme alleged in the indictment involved an elaborate plot to steal consumers’ hard-earned savings directly from their bank accounts,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Justice Department will use all of the tools at its disposal to prosecute such schemes.”
The six individuals charged are said to be part of a wider transactional fraud network with 19 alleged conspirators already charged under a prior indictment.
Ahmad was separately charged in a second indictment with conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud related to his participation in a similarly structured conspiracy that also stole money from U.S. consumer-victims.
None of the allegations have been proven in court and the defendants remain innocent until proven guilty.
“Criminals are utilizing technology to devise increasingly sophisticated methods to steal from victims,” said US Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California. “My office will continue to use all available tools to prosecute and apprehend these fraud networks, but I also urge everyone to regularly check your accounts for any unauthorized activity – no matter how small. Prevention is key.”
