BOSTON (WWLP) – Six Massachusetts men have been arrested on bank fraud and conspiracy charges related to a multi-million-dollar scheme to defraud banks across multiple states.
Charging documents stated that the following men were arrested and indicted last Friday on one count each on conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering:
- Phalentz Vernot, 24, of Waltham
- Selby Okai, 23, of Worcester
- Yves Bissainthe, 23, of Randolph
- Marvin Kimani, 24, of Lowell
- Keith Wainaina, 23, of Lowell
- Victor Kolawole, 25, of Brockton
Vernot was also indicted on one count of aggravated identity theft. The charging documents further stated that from at least 2022 to the present, the six suspects allegedly obtained the names, birthdays, Social Security numbers, and bank account numbers of numerous local bank customers without authorization.
The men then allegedly recruited individuals to pose as the customers and obtained fake identification documents with the victim customers’ names, but with the photos of the impostors posing as the victims. They then drove the impostors to banks in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island so they could withdraw large sums from the customers’ accounts through cashier’s checks…