八名被告被控合谋银行欺诈数百万美元：被指经社交媒体招募账户持有人存入伪造票据套现
美国纽约南区联邦检察官办公室 10 月 21 日宣布，一份起诉书当天启封，八名被告被控银行欺诈与合谋银行欺诈。检方称，该团伙自至少 2022 年起利用社交媒体招募他人提供银行账户，存入伪造的支票与美国国库票据等金融票据，并在银行识破票据系伪造之前把钱提走，给多家全国性金融机构造成数百万美元损失。
被起诉的八人是：Jeshon Bingham（24 岁）、Rupertt Sherrir（26 岁）、Mikhail Davis（31 岁）、Juzan Spence（31 岁）与 Michelle Hylton（33 岁），均住纽约 Bronx；Floyd Forrest（27 岁）与 Reheem Anderson（23 岁）住 Mount Vernon；Chavaughn Boothe（32 岁）住 Yonkers。起诉书称，被告还经常在社交媒体与即时通讯应用上讨论作案手法，分享伪造支票的照片、银行网点位置以及他人的个人身份信息。七名被告定于当天下午在联邦治安法官 Andrew E. Krause 面前过堂，Anderson 将于稍后日期过堂。
八名被告每人被控一项合谋银行欺诈与一项银行欺诈，两项罪名每项最高可判 30 年监禁；具体量刑将由法官决定。
纽约南区联邦检察官 Jamie McDonald 表示，不法分子越来越多地滥用社交媒体等技术平台实施欺诈，其办公室将动用一切检控手段根除这类犯罪。联邦调查局 FBI 纽约外地办公室助理主任 James C. Barnacle Jr. 表示，被告被指实施了经过策划的欺诈，给全国金融机构造成重大损失。此案由 FBI Westchester 安全街道专案组与 Westchester 县检察官办公室调查，检方团队来自该办公室 White Plains 分部。
起诉书中的指控仅为指控，八名被告在被法庭证明有罪之前均推定无罪。
Eight Defendants Charged in Multimillion-Dollar Bank Fraud Scheme: Allegedly Recruited Account Holders on Social Media to Deposit Fraudulent Instruments
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced on October 21 the unsealing of an indictment charging eight defendants with bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Prosecutors say that from at least 2022, the group recruited people over social media and other means to provide access to their bank accounts, deposited fraudulent financial instruments such as checks and U.S. Treasury notes, and withdrew the funds before the banks determined the instruments were counterfeit, defrauding various national financial institutions of millions of dollars.
The eight defendants are Jeshon Bingham, 24, Rupertt Sherrir, 26, Mikhail Davis, 31, Juzan Spence, 31, and Michelle Hylton, 33, all of the Bronx, New York; Floyd Forrest, 27, and Reheem Anderson, 23, of Mount Vernon, New York; and Chavaughn Boothe, 32, of Yonkers, New York. According to the indictment, the defendants often discussed the conspiracy on social media and in messaging applications, sharing pictures of fraudulent checks, locations of bank branches, and the personal identifying information of others. Seven defendants were expected to be arraigned that afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew E. Krause; Anderson will be arraigned at a later date.
Each defendant is charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison; any sentencing will be determined by the judge.
U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said bad actors are increasingly seeking to abuse technology platforms, including social media, to commit fraud, and that his office is committed to using every prosecutorial tool to root out this type of fraud. FBI Assistant Director in Charge James C. Barnacle Jr. said the defendants allegedly executed a calculated fraud scheme that caused substantial losses to financial institutions nationwide. The case was investigated by the FBI's Westchester Safe Streets Task Force and the Westchester County District Attorney's Office, and is being handled by the Office's White Plains Division.
The charges in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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图片来源：纽约 Daniel Patrick Moynihan 联邦法院大楼入口（美国纽约南区联邦地区法院所在地）资料图。照片：Ken Lund 摄，CC BY-SA 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Entrance of the Daniel Patrick Moynihan U.S. Courthouse in New York, home of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (file photo). Photo: Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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