| TRENTON – Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced today that 46 people have been indicted for their roles in an alleged cash advance scheme, which employed writing bad checks to take advantage of a bank’s guarantee to make funds available soon after a deposit was made. All told, $204,791 was allegedly stolen from TD Bank.
The Division of Criminal Justice obtained the indictment on January 28 from the Atlantic County grand jury, which charged each of the 46 defendants, all residents of New York City, with second-degree conspiracy, second-degree theft and second-degree money laundering.
According to the indictment, from May 2012 to April 2013 the suspects opened up TD Bank checking accounts with initial deposits ranging from $50 to $250. Within a day of the account opening, fraudulent checks ranging between $4,800 and $5,400 were allegedly deposited into the new account. As TD Bank has a policy of granting same day availability on checks deposited, the phony funds were available for withdrawal the next day when the suspects allegedly withdrew the funds from their account via Global Cash Access transactions in Atlantic City casinos. The fraudulent cash advance withdrawals were completed at the Borgata, Revel, Trump Taj Mahal, Showboat, Caesars and Bally’s.
“These alleged crimes were highly-organized in their exploitation of a policy designed to make bank customers’ funds available quickly for their use,” said Acting Attorney General Hoffman. “We know that financial criminals will seek to exploit any perceived weakness in safeguards to steal, and because of that we will continue our focus on these types of scams to ensure the financial security of our casinos and banks remains solid.”
“The defendants in this case conceived of and carried out a massive fraud, stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars during a year-long spree,” said Division of Criminal Justice Director Elie Honig. “We will continue to investigate and prosecute financial crimes, whether they are perpetrated by one individual or 50.”
The Division of Criminal Justice is alleging that Axel Fuentes, 53, of Bronx, N.Y., was a ringleader of the scam. Fuentes allegedly made fraudulent deposits in 26 out of the 45 bank accounts involved and was identified as the person who recruited and directed several of the co-defendants in this scheme. Fuentes has allegedly been identified in $136,650 of fraudulent bank deposits.
The defendants below each allegedly opened checking accounts at TD Bank, deposited fraudulent checks into those accounts and later withdrew money via cash advance from those accounts in Atlantic City casinos:
Jessenia Gonzalez, 27; Maria Victoria Ortiz, 30; Reinaldo Roman, 41; Juan Mercado, 40; Henry Fernandez, 25; Raymond Goita, 29; David Jenkins, 25; Maria Torres, 51.; Lourdes Salcedo, 50; Krystal Diaz, 28; Jose Lopez, 55; Juan Lopez, Jr., 31; Wilfredo Dejesus, 39; Hector Saliva, Bronx, N.Y.; Bianca Santana, 26; Brandon Brodnick, 24; Rosa Sanchez, 30; Tatiana Rodriguez, 27; Nuris Gomez, 51; Rashaad Brazier, 27; Brian Cruz Santana, 24; Olga Rivera, 24; Luis Gonzalez Carmona, 38; Madonna Zapata, 28; Alberto Resto, 25; Andrew Molina, 26; Javier Leonardo, 26; Edil Rosas, 47; Matilda Suarez, 38; Roberto Diaz, 23; Abel Ramos, 26; Jesus Suarez, 30; Brendali Rivera, 33; Julia Suarez, 34; Gloryann Torres, 34; Roberto Perez, 24; Israel Cintron, 24; Mitchel Liriano, 25; Stephanie Urena Gonzalez, 24; Willin Balbuen, 29; Vanessa Perez, 26; David Serrano, 34; Diane Morales, 37; Miguel Cabrera, 30; Edwin Gonzalez, 68.
Second-degree crimes can carry a prison sentence of up to 10 years and a criminal fine of $150,000. The charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Deputy Attorney Yvonne Maher presented the case to the grand jury on behalf of the Division of Criminal Justice Specialized Crimes Bureau. New Jersey State Police Casino Investigations Financial Crimes Unit Detective Paul Horsey assisted with the investigation.
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