Aiexpress – Five individuals from Prince George’s County are facing charges in connection with a fraudulent scheme that involved the unlawful acquisition of over 600 checks amounting to a face value exceeding $5 million. The authorities made this announcement on Monday, highlighting the severity of the case.
The individuals facing charges are:
-
- Tianna “Mendoza” Cosby, 23, of Upper Marlboro;
- Marche Sisco, 26, of Suitland;
- Tommi Cosby, 21, of District Heights;
- Biniah Carter, 24, of Upper Marlboro;
- Zion Oluwademilade Adeduqon, 22, of Bowie.
Tianna Cosby and Carter were arrested on Friday, Jan. 19 and were scheduled to appear in court for their initial hearings on Monday. As for the other three individuals involved, they are still at large.
Sisco, a USPS mail handler assistant at the Washington Network Distribution Center, allegedly used her position to steal checks, which were subsequently given to Cosby.
The face value of the counterfeit bills was estimated to be over $5 million.
The Cosbys, Carter, and Adeduwon are also accused of recruiting “account mules” who would have their bank accounts used to deposit the illegally obtained checks and profits from the scheme.
The indictment reveals that the group modified the stolen checks to make it appear as if they were paying account mules. They then deposited the fraudulent checks into the bank accounts held by these mules. Subsequently, they carried out various financial activities, such as ATM withdrawals and account transfers, in order to access and acquire the unlawfully obtained funds.
If they are found guilty, they could potentially be sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in federal prison for the charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and bank fraud, as well as for each count of bank fraud. Additionally, they would be required to serve a mandatory two-year sentence, which would be consecutive to any other prison term they receive, for each count of aggravated identity theft.
