Two men charged with bank fraud scheme

Two Nigerian natonals residing in the Blackstone Valley have been detained in federal custody on charges that they allegedly participated in a large-scale counterfeit bank fraud and passport scheme intended to generate more than $850,000 in ill-gotten gains.

Olugboyega Akinloye Fasanya, 35, of Woonsocket, and Anthony Chidozie Ezike, also 35, of Pawtucket, are charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and use of counterfeit passports.

Fasanya and Ezike made initial appearances in U.S. District Court in Providence Thursday, where Magistrate Judge Lincoln D. Almond ordered them detained in federal custody pending further court action.

An affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint says Fasanya orchestrated a scheme that defrauded more than ten banks in Rhode Island, Massachusetts and elsewhere by acquiring and altering checks transferred between the commercial financial entities. The original checks were legitimate financial instruments, but they were altered to make them payable to aliases used by Fasanya, Ezike and others.

Fasanya and Ezike allegedly cashed the checks and deposited the proceeds into bank accounts that were opened in the phony names. In many instances, the funds were removed from the accounts before the fraud was discovered by the banks.

The defendants allegedly initiated the scheme around June 2015.

Federal prosecutors say Fasanya and Ezike also used counterfeit passports from Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa as forms of identification when opening various bank accounts used to execute the scheme.

According to the affidavit, the defendants deposited fraudulent checks and wires totaling approximately $853,000 and successfully obtained approximately $368,000 through withdrawals and debit purchases.

Homeland Security Investigations led the probe of the alleged offenses with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Woonsocket, Pawtucket and Warwick police departments.