Brothers Plead Guilty to CU/Bank Fraud
Two men steal or attempt to steal more than $1.7 million from Virginia credit unions, banks and retailers.
Darrell Clark, 31, of Norfolk, and Demarcus Clark, 26, of Newport News, conspired for more than two years to use stolen identities to defraud the $89 billion Navy Federal Credit Union in Vienna, the $2.6 billion Langley Federal Credit Union, Citibank, Capital One, Verizon, T-Mobile, Home Depot and a furniture store. The brothers also recruited cell phone carrier employees to compromise existing business customer accounts by naming the two as authorized account managers, then submitted bulk orders for mobile phones and tablets and resold them, according to federal prosecutors.
The brothers used some of these cell phones and their numerous fake IDs to open checking, savings, credit, and consumer loan accounts. Through these mobile banking applications, they successfully borrowed thousands of dollars to fund high-end vehicle purchases, foreign travel, and extensive home repairs.
The brothers directed Navy FCU and Langley FCU to mail personal and auto loan checks to various addresses of their ID victims. They intercepted these loan check shipments by approaching the mail carriers or private carrier employees outside of the designated addresses. After showing the carriers their fake IDs with the designated addresses, the brothers redirected the shipments to local post offices and carrier facilities to pick up the checks, according to court documents.
With loan checks in hand, the brothers forged ID victim signatures and then cashed those checks at branches by posing as the borrower. For vehicle loans, the brothers recruited other conspirators to pose as the vehicle sellers.
Using fake IDs, the brothers also secured credit cards from the financial institutions, which they used to fraudulently obtain money, goods and services.
The Clark brothers attempted to steal more than $1.7 million. The actual losses for the credit unions, banks and retailers amounted to $890,122, according to court documents.
The brothers pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank and mail fraud, mail fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Each man faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, along with a mandatory minimum, consecutive penalty of two years in prison when sentenced on October 25.