Source: Shutterstock.
A North Carolina leader of a check fraud ring, which caused financial losses of more than $150,000 at the state's largest credit union and four banks, was sentenced to five years and three months in prison by a federal judge.
U.S. District Court Judge Terrence W. Boyle for the Eastern District of North Carolina also ordered Carl Edwin Parker Jr., on Sept. 6 to pay $97,940 in restitution to the $53.1 billion State Employees Credit union in Raleigh and serve five years of supervised release following his prison term. Parker pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Recommended For You
According to court documents, from May 2019 and April 2020, Parker and his co-conspirators stole checks from residential mailboxes and altered them to make them payable to individuals that were recruited to serve as "money mules."
The money mules agreed to deposit the altered checks into their credit union or bank accounts, after which Parker and his co-conspirators cashed out the stolen funds at area ATMs.
Parker and his fraud ring stole checks from more than 100 victims and caused financial losses of more than $150,000.
In addition to SECU, the check fraud ring targeted and stole from account holders at PNC Bank, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Truist Bank. Restitution for the banks is expected to be determined later.
The co-conspirators were Khristopher Taion Stukes, Kauri Maleek Johnson-Chavis and Jallani Jewels Stewart. Each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Stewart was sentenced to a prison term of 57 months, while Johnson-Chavis was sentenced to 63 months and Stukes was sentenced to 21 months.
They were also ordered to pay restitution.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Peter Strozniak
Credit Union Times reporter covering credit union operations, fraud, M&As, leagues, business continuity, and breaking news.
