A crew of street gang members from the Bronx has been indicted in a sophisticated bank fraud scheme that netted over $10 million and nearly succeeded in pilfering an additional $12.6 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds, according to Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark.
“The defendants allegedly conspired to steal millions of dollars, recruiting vulnerable individuals as partners in fraud,” Clark stated. “At one point, they attempted to steal $12.6 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds and spent the stolen money on luxury items.”
The indictment charges eight members of the Shiesty 66 gang with various offenses, including enterprise corruption, forgery, and criminal possession of stolen property, all related to check-washing and bank fraud schemes.
The investigation, which involved the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Secret Service, the NYPD, and the Bronx DA’s office, revealed that the gang exploited loopholes in the banking system to perpetrate fraud across the tri-state area and the West Coast.
Police began investigating the gang following a November 2021 shooting, which led them to discover that members were engaging in a “card-cracking” scam. This involved using social media to recruit individuals willing to share their debit card and bank information.
The scheme entailed depositing counterfeit checks into the recruits’ bank accounts, quickly withdrawing cash from ATMs, and sending kickbacks to the account holders, who would subsequently report their cards as stolen. Notably, one gang member attempted to deposit a stolen U.S. Treasury check worth $12.6 million, intended for COVID relief for Mt. Sinai Medical Center.
The defendants allegedly spent their ill-gotten gains on luxury brands like Gucci, Burberry, Cartier, and Louis Vuitton, as well as high-end watches from Audemars Piguet and Rolex, and extravagant trips to Paris, Miami, and Kuwait.
Daniel Brubaker, head of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service New York Division, emphasized the commitment to bringing the defendants to justice, stating, “The defendants allegedly conspired to steal checks from the mail worth millions of dollars to support their lavish lifestyles.”
This isn’t the first time the Bronx has made headlines for similar scams; in 2018, rapper Young Ash, real name Ashley Bautista, was arrested for her involvement in a card-cracking scheme that targeted tenants at a luxury high-rise, netting at least $50,000 in stolen funds.