Defendant and His Co-Conspirators Used Fake Companies,
Fraudulently Obtained Identification Documents, and Sham Company Bank Accounts
to Cash Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in Fake Payroll Checks
Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant
Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (“FBI”), announced that MARKO STASIV was sentenced to seven years
in prison today by U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel for his participation in
a scheme to defraud banks and check-cashing stores by cashing hundreds of
thousands of dollars in unfunded payroll checks. STASIV was convicted, after a seven-day jury
trial in May 2019, of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, and
aggravated identity theft.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “Marko Stasiv was sentenced today for his
leading role in a choreographed scheme to defraud. He led a group of conspirators in bilking banks
and check-cashing businesses in state after state, staying one step ahead of
the law – until he was caught. Now he
faces seven years in federal prison for his crimes.”
FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. said: “There was nothing about Marko Stasiv’s
payroll scheme that was on the up and up.
As one would imagine, his initial success couldn’t be sustained for
long. Today’s sentencing ensures a long, well-deserved stay in prison, and this
time the government will make the room arrangements.”
According to a Superseding Indictment filed December 18,
2018, other court documents, and the evidence presented at trial:
From approximately September 2016 through February 2018, the
defendant and his co-conspirators engaged in a coordinated scheme to defraud
check-cashing businesses and federally insured banks (the “Check Scam”). The Check Scam’s primary objective was to
generate illicit profit for its participants by deceiving check-cashing
businesses and banks into honoring ostensible payroll checks for which
insufficient funds were available to cover the face-value of the checks. The Check Scam involved building trust and
confidence with check-cashing businesses and banks through a purportedly
legitimate course of dealings before taking advantage of that trust and
confidence to stage intentional, coordinated overdrafts. This included the use of fraudulently
obtained identity documents, sham companies, and interstate wires.
As part of the scheme, the conspirators incorporated
multiple sham companies (the “Sham Companies”) in multiple states, and then
opened bank accounts in the names of those sham companies (the “Sham Bank
Accounts”). The individuals opening the
Sham Bank Accounts often did so by using legitimate state identification cards
(“State IDs”), obtained under false pretenses.
Upon opening the Sham Bank Accounts, members of the Scheme would obtain
and print payroll checks, issued by a Sham Company and issued to a member of
the Scheme (a “Check Casher”), who posed as an employee of the Sham
Company. Over the course of several
weeks, the Check Cashers cashed multiple payroll checks, of gradually
increasing values, at multiple check-cashing stores in the state of the Sham
Company’s incorporation. Members of the
Scheme would then immediately redeposit these funds into the Sham Bank Account,
so that the checks would clear. In doing
so, the Check Cashers developed credibility with the check-cashing stores. In each state, the Check Scam would culminate
during a final week (the “Bomb Week”).
During the Bomb Week, the Check Cashers would cash high-value checks at
as many check-cashing stores as possible.
However, during the Bomb Week, the conspirators would not redeposit
these funds into the Sham Bank Account, and would instead divide the proceeds
among themselves. By the time the checks
bounced, the conspirators had moved on to the next state, where they executed
the Check Scam again, using a new Sham Company and Sham Bank Account.
The defendant was one of the Check Scam’s leaders. Among other things, he recruited Check
Cashers; helped Check Cashers obtain State IDs and open Sham Bank Accounts
under false pretenses; distributed payroll checks to the Check Cashers; drove
the Check Cashers to various check-cashing stores; instructed Check Cashers on
how to execute the Check Scam; and collected and redistributed the proceeds of
the Check Scam. The defendant and his
conspirators executed or planned to execute the Check Scam in various locations
throughout the United States, including in and around New York City,
Pennsylvania, Florida, Maryland, Georgia, Virginia, Texas, Illinois, and
California.
As a way to keep overhead costs lower while executing the
Check Scam in various states, the conspirators obtained hotel rooms, unlawfully
and without authorization, by using the names and hotel loyalty program
accounts of real persons who were neither part of nor aware of the Check Scam
(the “Hotel Scam”). The defendant
personally executed the Hotel Scam with the assistance of at least two
associates in Ukraine, who helped arrange dozens of days-long hotel stays for the
Check Scam’s participants at various locations by unlawfully accessing victims’
hotel rewards points, and using them to book hotel rooms listing the defendant
and other conspirators as authorized guests.
*
* *
In addition to the prison term, Judge Castel sentenced
STASIV to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution
in the amount of $548,178.70, forfeiture in the amount of $122,424.92, and a
$100 special assessment.
Mr. Berman praised the investigative work of the FBI and its
Eurasian Organized Crime Squad. He also
thanked the New York City Police Department and United States Customs and
Border Protection for their assistance in the matter.
The prosecution of this case is being handled by the
Office’s Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit. Assistant United States Attorney Jonathan
Rebold is in charge of the prosecution.
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