U.S.—A federal grand jury in Maryland, US, has indicted two Nigerians on “charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and mail fraud, access device fraud, aggravated identity theft, theft of mail by a postal employee and destruction of mail by a postal employee.”
The 30-count indictment alleges that Johnson Ogunlana, 24, of Middle River, Maryland; and Samson Oguntuyi, 29, of Atlanta, Georgia, with others conspired to steal bank checks, credit cards, and debit cards.
According to the indictment, Ogunlana was a letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) in Brooklyn, Maryland, a position that allowed him access to sensitive postal documents which he allegedly stole for fraudulent purposes.
Members of the conspiracy, the indictment said, “registered fraudulent businesses with state government agencies using the names of victim businesses, and the names and identifying information of postal customer identity theft victims, as the agents and/or incorporators of the businesses.”
The defendants also allegedly obtained banks checks payable to the victim businesses by intercepting mail sent via USPS, endorsed some of the checks by forging the signatures of identity theft victims, and deposited the checks into the fraudulent business bank accounts the conspirators opened in the names of the victim businesses.
The conspirators then withdrew the money from the accounts through cash withdrawals, debit card purchases and cash back transactions at retail merchants, wire transfers, and by writing checks drawn on the accounts.
The indictment alleges that at least $565,000 was stolen from two victim businesses and that at least eight postal customers were victims of identity theft.
If convicted, Ogunlana and Oguntuyi each face a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison.
The defendants, who are deemed innocent until proven guilty, are expected to have initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on a date yet to be announced.