Three Massachusetts Men Charged with Bank Fraud Conspiracy

BOSTON – Three Massachusetts men were charged today in federal court in Boston in connection with schemes to use false identification documents to obtain funds from bank customers’ accounts. 

Lindsley J. Georges, 26, and Dave Guillaume, 23, both of Everett, and Fesnel Lafortune, 30, of Milton, were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The defendants were arrested this morning and made an initial appearance in federal court in Boston.

According to the complaint charging Georges and Guillaume, in December 2017 and January 2018, two unindicted co-conspirators obtained four bank checks totaling nearly $800,000 from two Santander Bank customers’ accounts.  Two other co-conspirators obtained two bank checks totaling more than $330,000 from a TD Bank customer’s account, by representing that they were the customers.  It is alleged that Georges deposited two of the fraudulently-obtained Santander Bank checks into a business bank account he controlled, and thereafter withdrew about $200,000 in six cash withdrawals at six different bank branch offices. Guillaume deposited one of the fraudulently-obtained Santander Bank checks to a business bank account he had opened using a fake name.  It is alleged that Guillaume thereafter withdrew about $46,000 in cash in five transactions at four different bank branches. Georges and Guillaume also each deposited one of the fraudulently-obtained TD Bank checks to a business bank account that Guillaume had opened using a fake name and driver’s license.

According to the complaint charging Lafortune, in April 2017, another unindicted co-conspirator obtained two bank checks totaling more than $340,000 from a Santander Bank customer’s account, using a fraudulent passport and credit card in the customer’s name. Lafortune deposited one of the checks in the amount of $175,500 to a business bank account he had opened using a false name, date of birth and Social Security number. Within days of depositing the check, Lafortune withdrew nearly $30,000 in cash in three transactions at three different bank branches.

The charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud carries a sentence of no greater than 30 years in prison, up to five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Office; and Joseph W. Cronin, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, made the announcement today.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Leslie A. Wright and Mark J. Balthazard of Lelling’s Securities and Financial Fraud Unit are prosecuting the cases.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.