LOS ANGELES – Federal authorities this morning arrested eight people named in a federal grand jury indictment that alleges check-kiting schemes that used hundreds of altered Armenian passports to fraudulently open bank accounts and steal nearly $1.5 million from Bank of America and Wells Fargo. A ninth defendant in this case is currently being sought by authorities.
The investigation led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) found that the defendants obtained genuine Armenian passports issued to other people, altered the passports to include the photos of the defendants, and used the fraudulent documents to obtain other identity documents and to open bank accounts at the victim banks.
The 36-count indictment unsealed today alleges that the defendants used the bank accounts, which were opened in the names that appeared on the altered passports, to write bad checks to other fraudulently obtained bank accounts. The defendants allegedly exploited bank rules that allowed them to transfer money from one account to another, and then to immediately withdraw funds at ATMs in Las Vegas casinos and other locations before the checks bounced.