Six men and two women from Westchester and the Bronx have been charged in an alleged fraud scheme that bilked financial institutions out of millions of dollars, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced.
An indictment unsealed Wednesday, Oct. 21, charged Floyd Forrest, 27, and Reheem Anderson, 23, of Mount Vernon; Chavaughn Boothe, 32, of Yonkers; and Jeshon Bingham, 24, Rupertt Sherrir, 26, Mikhail Davis, 31, Juzan Spence, 31 and Michelle Hylton, 33, all of the Bronx, with bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Each faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
They are accused of using social media to recruit people the indictment called "mules" who would allow their bank accounts to be used in exchange for cash. The group would then use the accounts to deposit
counterfeit checks and treasury notes and withdraw money before the banks knew the deposits were fake.
The indictment accuses the group of depositing millions of dollars in fraudulent financial instruments in banks between 2022 and this year. It does not offer a more specific amount or detail how much money the group was able to withdraw.
It did list nine allegedly fraudulent deposits between September 2022 and September 2023 at various banks in Westchester and New York City totaling more than $625,000.
"Bad actors are increasingly seeking to abuse technology platforms - here social media platforms - to commit fraud," U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said.
The case was investigated by the FBI's Westchester Safe Streets Task Force and the Westchester District Attorney's Office.
All the defendants except Anderson were taken into custody Wednesday and were expected to appear in U.S. District Court in White Plains. Bail and attorney information was unavailable.
Anderson is in custody in Kentucky on state charges there, according to federal court documents.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Eight from Westchester, Bronx charged with bank fraud in federal court
