Jury Convicts Former Navy Federal Employee for Running Fraud Scheme

A former employee of the $170 billion Navy Federal Credit Union is expected to be sentenced in June for running a fraud scheme at a Maryland branch along with another employee and three other conspirators who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from members.

The conspirators intended to fraudulently obtain at least $400,000 and successfully stole more than $151,000 from June 2018 to March 2020, federal prosecutors said.

After deliberating for less than 90 minutes, a federal jury convicted Jalen Craig McMillan, 30, of Jessup, Md., last month for conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

McMillan, who is set to be sentenced in June, was a member service representative for Navy Federal’s Laurel, Md., branch. A second member service representative, Jovan Bell, who worked in the same branch, pleaded guilty earlier to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled for him, according to court filings.

Three other conspirators in this fraud scheme included Archie Arnold Paul, 31, of Laurel, Md., who is scheduled to be sentenced on March 26 after he pleaded guilty in October to bank fraud conspiracy. He was the primary leader and organizer of a sophisticated fraud scheme, according to federal prosecutors. The other conspirators included John Fitzgerald Washington, 52, of Waldorf, Md., and Tiffany Rainel Williams, 37, of Glenarden, Md.

Washington, who earlier pleaded guilty to bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud, was sentenced to time served on Feb. 29 and was ordered to pay $135,969 in restitution, court documents showed. Williams also earlier pleaded guilty to bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated ID theft. The disposition of her sentence, however, was sealed from public inspection by U.S. District Court Judge Peter J. Messite on March 1.

Paul and his co-conspirators obtained, possessed and used fictitious identities and personal identifying information of Navy Federal members that Paul and Washington used to manufacture and procure false identification documents displaying the personal identifying information of members and the photographs of others. In addition, Paul and Williams then used the false identification documents to impersonate members and with the help of McMillan, opened bank accounts and conducted financial transactions in their names, including making large withdrawals from members’ accounts.

McMillan provided the identifying information of a Navy Federal member knowing that it would be used to facilitate the fraud. He also serviced the transaction and assisted one of the conspirators in obtaining a $10,000 loan using a Navy Federal’s member’s name, which was immediately cashed by one of the conspirators.

According to court documents, there were 10 or more Navy Federal members who were victims of this fraud scheme.