Gang of fraudsters got group rate in Federal pen; pulled down over $700 g’s from banks, individuals and charities

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The last in a gang of young con-men who fleeced banks and individuals of over $700,000 will now be a resident of a federal prison following being sentenced last week.

Kyle Cary, 25, of Hyattsville, Maryland, was sentenced April 8, 2016, to 40 months in prison and three years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit bank fraud for his role in a five-year check fraud and identity theft conspiracy.

Cary pleaded guilty on January 8.  As detailed in the below chart, seven co-conspirators were previously sentenced to significant prison terms for their roles in this same conspiracy which included stolen social security numbers and other identification fraud.

According to statements of fact filed with the plea agreements, Ray Ekobena and his younger brother, Stefan Ekobena, printed fraudulent checks using victims’ bank account information.  The Ekobenas obtained victims’ bank account information by enlisting bank tellers and other insiders who had access to sensitive personal information through their employment.  The Ekobenas also employed a network of recruiters.  One such recruiter was Cary (aka Hugo Stacks), who would recruit bank account holders to provide him with their debit card, the PIN for the debit card, and other information which Cary would then provide to his co-conspirators via middlemen such as Gani Cole and Rodney Hardy.  Co-conspirators such as Jerome Johnson, Deallto Davis, and Alan Lamin also furthered the conspiracy by depositing the fraudulent checks into bank accounts under false names and withdrawing the resulting funds before the banks discovered the fraud.   

In total, the conspiracies victimized over 200 individuals and caused an actual loss amount of $712,231. Victims include well-known small businesses and charities, including the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

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Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Maria Kelokates, Inspector in Charge of the Washington Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS); Paul M. Abbate, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Colonel Edwin C. Roessler Jr., Chief of the Fairfax County Police Department, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Kellen S. Dwyer and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph V. Longobardo prosecuted the case.