City man gets prison for bank fraud
PROVIDENCE – A 36-year-old Woonsocket man and an 36-year-old man from Pawtucket were sentenced to 13 months in federal prison on Friday in connection with a large-scale bank fraud and counterfeit passport scheme, that resulted in a net loss of more than $1.2 million from defrauded banks in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch for the District of Rhode Island and Special Agent in Charge Peter C. Fitzhugh of Homeland Security Investigations.
The two men involved, Olugboyega Akinloye Fasanya, 36, of Woonsocket and Anthony Chidozie Ezike, 36, of Pawtucket, had previously admitted in court that they participated in a scheme to defraud banks in Rhode Island and Massachusetts by acquiring and altering lawfully passed checks between commercial entities, according to Dambruch’s spokesman, Jim Martin.
The checks involved in the fraud operation were altered to be made out to aliases used by Fasanya, Ezike and others, and then deposited into
bank accounts opened using those aliases. The accounts were opened using counterfeit passports from Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa as forms of identification, according to Martin.
The funds were removed from the accounts prior to the fraud being detected by the financial institutions, he said.
According to information presented by prosecutors in court, the participants in the fraud scheme deposited fraudulent checks and wires totaling approximately $1,267,000 and successfully obtained approximately $487,000 through withdrawals and debit purchases as a result.
At sentencing on Friday, U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith ordered Fasanya and Ezike to serve 3 years supervised release upon completion of their terms of incarceration, according to Martin. Additionally, Martin said Fasanya was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $379,362 and Ezike ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $228,730 to the banks the two men defrauded.
The federal sentencing guidelines range of imprisonment in the matter of the United States of America v. Olugboyega Akinloye Fasanya is 18-24 months, Martin said. The government recommended the court impose a sentence of 21 months in prison, he added. The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines range of imprisonment in the matter of the United States of America v. Anthony Chidozie Ezike is 21-27 months, Martin said.
The government in turn recommended the court impose a sentence of 13 months in prison.
Fasanya and Ezike face deportation proceedings upon completion of their term of incarceration.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lee H. Vilker, Martin said.
The matter was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations with the assistance of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Woonsocket, Pawtucket and Warwick Police Departments.