Bank fraud scheme lands King of Prussia man in federal prison

PHILADELPHIA » A King of Prussia man, characterized as one of the leaders of a large scale bank fraud ring that operated primarily in the Reading area, is on his way to federal prison.

Nasir Joseph Outlaw, 22, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 44 months in prison and five years’ supervised release after he pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft in connection with his role in the bank fraud and identity theft ring. Outlaw was one of more than two dozen people charged in connection with the scheme.

U.S. District Court Judge Joseph F. Leeson Jr. also ordered Outlaw to pay $47,575 in restitution in connection with the crime.

The sentence was announced on Friday by First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams.

“This was a sophisticated scheme involving dozens of defendants that took excellent investigative work to unravel,” Williams said. “Financial fraud and identity theft harm hardworking individuals every day. Our office will continue to aggressively prosecute the perpetrators and seek justice for victims.”

With his guilty plea, Outlaw admitted that between June and December 2017, he knowingly executed separate schemes to defraud First National Bank and Fulton Bank through the deposit of fraudulent checks and the withdrawal of cash before the banks discovered that the checks were fraudulent.

Outlaw also admitted that he recruited at least six other alleged co-schemers to participate as account holders and additional recruiters.

Authorities alleged Outlaw used the account holders’ ATM debit cards and personal identification numbers to deposit fraudulent checks and to make cash withdrawals and supervised other co-schemers and instructed them to make deposits and withdrawals from the accounts. Outlaw also personally obtained checks from inactive or closed accounts that he knew were closed, prosecutors alleged.

Outlaw, prosecutors said, was directly responsible for defrauding the two banks out of $47,575.12, and admitted that he intended to defraud the banks out of more than $64,000.

The investigation also led to separate federal charges against 31 other members of the fraud ring – 30 of whom have since pleaded guilty, according to Williams. Another leader of the fraud ring, Steven Ronald Randal, of Philadelphia, previously was sentenced by Leeson in June 2018 to 111 months in prison.

Charges remain pending against one other member of the fraud ring, prosecutors said. Additional information about the scheme and others charged was unavailable on Friday.

“This conspiracy relied on the mail to obtain the debit cards needed to discreetly deposit stolen and counterfeit checks into controlled accounts at ATM machines,” said Damon Wood, postal inspector in charge of the Philadelphia division. “When criminals use the mail to commit a crime, they shouldn’t be surprised when postal inspectors knock on their door along with their law enforcement partners.”

Wood praised investigators and prosecutors from the FBI, Cumru Township, Berks County, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, who worked alongside postal inspectors during the lengthy investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. Lowe.