(FOX 9) - Six people are facing federal charges after prosecutors say they ran a years-long scheme to steal millions of dollars in business checks from Twin Cities banks and credit unions.
How the scheme worked
What we know:
Willie Roy Turner Jr., 29, of Chicago, Illinois, is identified as the lead defendant in the case after making his first court appearance on Sept. 4, on charges that include conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
Dig deeper:
According to the indictment, the scheme ran from at least November 2022 through at least September 2024.
Turner Jr. and four co-conspirators — Marc Anderson, Billy Ray Cameron Jr., Devontay Colbert and Dontae Williams — allegedly conspired to defraud banks and credit unions in the Twin Cities area by depositing stolen checks into fraudulent accounts.
Courts documents outline that the group allegedly opened, or attempted to open, unauthorized bank accounts in the names of business victims at Twin Cities financial institutions.
To do that, they registered the targeted businesses as new Minnesota Limited Liability Corporations (LLC) and used those documents to open the accounts. They then presented fraudulent identification, falsely claiming to be authorized representatives of those businesses.
After depositing stolen checks into the accounts, the defendants and their co-conspirators withdrew the money through cash withdrawals or cashier's check purchases.
In total, the group deposited or attempted to deposit business checks worth more than $5.1 million at Twin Cities financial institutions, and successfully stole more than $1.5 million in business funds.
A sixth defendant, Takiya Shemwell, of Chicago, Illinois, was a U.S. Postal Service employee at the time, and prosecutors say Shemwell identified and stole business mail pieces containing checks paid from or payable to the business victims while working in Chicago.
Shemwell then allegedly sold those stolen checks to Turner Jr. and Cameron Jr. in exchange for payments. Turner Jr. and Cameron Jr. then shared the stolen checks with the others.
Big picture view:
Below is an outline of charges each person connected to the scheme faces, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office:
- Willie Roy Turner Jr.: conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit mail fraud
- Marc Anderson: conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft
- Billy Ray Cameron Jr.: conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit mail fraud
- Devontay Colbert: conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft
- Dontae Williams: conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft
- Takiya Shemwell: conspiracy to commit mail fraud
The Source: Information provided by a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.