Yesterday, the Manhattan DA's office charged 94 people in what prosecutors described as a "well-organized check fraud ring that relied on bogus checks, electronic transfers of funds between accounts at TD Bank, and the withdrawal of funds from special cash access locations at casinos in Atlantic City and Foxwoods and elsewhere." Over $450,000 was taken from TD Bank between August 2009 and May 2011 by opening 90 accounts, but prosecutors suspect a million more was stolen.
How did it work? Well, after a bank account was opened at TD Bank, a fraudulent check would be deposited into the savings account. Then, using the telephone service, the fake check's amount would be transferred to the checking account and the amount would be available there before the check cleared (a "glitch" at TD Bank!). Finally, the money would be withdrawn at ATMs at casinos and at Western Unions.
Manhattan DA Cy Vance said, "This isn’t brain surgery. They found a seam where the bank permitted money to be withdrawn.”
Among the arrestees are ringleaders and the people they recruited to open the accounts. While the ringleaders took thousands, the recruited individuals would get a few hundred for their work.
