A former Penns Grove man admitted to his role in a scheme to steal checks and rob mail carriers, authorities said.
Dezhon McCrae, 25, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, possession of a stolen postal key, possession of stolen mail, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said in a news release.
According to court documents and statements, McCrae was part of a “card cracking” conspiracy between May 2018 and February 2020. Suspects stole checks from the mail and other sources, then created counterfeit checks with the same routing and account numbers to deposit at banks.
The thieves posted social media ads for people who were willing to give the thieves access to their bank accounts. The thieves then deposited the counterfeit checks into those accounts and withdrew as much money as possible before the banks discovered the deposits were fraudulent.
More than $274,000 was stolen from banks, with McCrae being responsible for more than $10,000, according to investigators.