Suspects Allegedly Steal Thousands From West Virginia CU Members
Benjamin Britford and Brandon Watkins allegedly steal more than $10,000 from members within three weeks.
Two men from Alabama and Georgia allegedly targeted West Virginia credit union members to steal funds from their accounts.
Benjamin Britford, 33, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Brandon Watkins, 29, of Douglasville, Ga., have been charged with one felony count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, one felony count of bank fraud. Watkins has also been charged with one felony count of aggravated ID theft, according to a superseding indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Clarksburg, W. Va., on Jan. 3.
From July 12 to Aug. 3, 2023, federal prosecutors alleged the two men carried out a scheme to make unauthorized transactions from numerous members’ accounts after obtaining their personally identifiable information and account numbers at the $736 million Bayer Heritage Federal Credit Union in New Martinsville.
The indictment did not say why the suspects from Alabama and Georgia targeted a West Virginia credit union or how they obtained members’ personal information or their account numbers.
“The defendants withdrew more than $10,000 in cash from accounts in West Virginia and withdrew additional funds from accounts of Bayer customers in South Carolina during the same time period (July and August 2023),” William J. Ihlenfeld, II, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia, said in a prepared statement.
In West Virginia, Britford and Watkins stole funds from a married couple’s account via a Bayer Heritage ITM in New Martinsville, according to the indictment.
Watkins was arraigned on the charges in federal court in Wheeling on Monday. He did not enter a plea. An arraignment for Britford has not been scheduled yet.