Fraudsters Target Members of Maine’s Largest Credit Union

A Portland, Maine man pleaded guilty to organizing an identity theft and bank fraud scheme that victimized members of the state’s largest credit union.

Court documents showed the fraudsters stole or attempted to steal more than $27,000 from member accounts at the $1.1 billion Atlantic Federal Credit Union in South Portland.

Paul Logugune, 22, and an unidentified coconspirator, broke into vehicles and stole women’s purses and wallets to obtain their driver’s licenses and checkbooks. They then recruited female coconspirators to cash forged checks using the stolen IDs, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Portland.

The fraud scheme’s three female coconspirators, who were separately recruited and cashed the checks on different days and at different branches, posed as the payees on the forged checks and cashed or attempted to cash them at drive-thru teller windows of AFCU branches at Topsham, Freeport, Brunswick and Cumberland from May 14 to June 23, 2022.

Logugune got a third party, who was not involved in the scheme, to rent a car for Logugune or loan a car to him. Logugune and his coconspirator affixed stolen license plates to the cars and either hid in the cars or stayed outside of the cars to avoid being detected by the credit union’s surveillance cameras.

When the three women were successful at cashing the checks, Logugune and his coconspirator provided them with a portion of the fraud proceeds or drugs.

Logugune pleaded guilty to one felony count of bank fraud and one felony count of aggravated identity theft earlier this month in U.S. District Court in Portland.

His sentencing hearing has not been scheduled.