Feds Allege Fraudsters Exploited CU Shared Branch Network
Four people, who allegedly coordinated over 200 fake transactions and stole in excess of $900,000, are arrested.
Federal law enforcement authorities in New York said Wednesday they arrested two men who allegedly led a scheme to exploit the shared branch network by coordinating more than 200 fraudulent transactions, stealing in excess of $900,000 from credit unions throughout the nation.
According to the Dec. 5 indictment, court filings and statements made by prosecutors in federal court, beginning in December 2021, Oluwaseun Adekoya, 38, of Newark, N.J., and David Daniyan, 59, of Brooklyn, N.Y., obtained the personal identifying information of scores of individuals who bank at credit unions and are members of the shared branch network.
Adekoya and Daniyan allegedly exploited the network by creating fake identifications in the names of credit union members, but with photographs of other individuals. Adekoya and Daniyan hired these individuals to carry out the fraudulent transactions at credit unions all over the country, according to U.S. Attorney Carla B. Freedman in Syracuse and Craig L. Tremaroli, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Albany Field Office.
The indictment alleged Adekoya and Daniyan organized the national scheme, which involved six other persons. They used the stolen credit union funds to buy luxury items including watches, a vehicle and high-end clothing.
Federal authorities did not reveal how many credit unions throughout the nation had been victimized. However, court documents showed some of the fraudulent transactions allegedly occurred in the upstate New York counties of Albany, Clinton, Rensselaer and Saratoga at credit union branches in Latham, Albany, Plattsburgh, Cohoes and Rouses Point.
Also arrested on Tuesday were Gaysha Kennedy, 45, of Brooklyn and Danielle Cappetti, 45, of the Bronx, N.Y. The arrests of four additional defendants are pending, federal authorities said.
Adekoya and Daniyan, who were arrested on Tuesday, have each been charged with one felony count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and two felony counts of aggravated identity theft.
Adekoya appeared in a New Jersey federal court and was ordered to be detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for today. Daniyan appeared in a New York federal court and was ordered to be detained pending his transfer to the Northern District of New York based in Syracuse.
Kennedy has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and Cappetti has been charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. They both appeared in New York federal court on Tuesday. Kennedy did not enter a plea. Cappetti pleaded not guilty, according to court documents.
Federal authorities said during the course of their investigation they have seized more than $45,000 in cash and an estimated tens of thousands of dollars in luxury jewelry and other merchandise.