SHREVEPORT, La. — Elijah D. Brown, 24, of Shreveport, was sentenced in federal court for his role in a conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Brown, who is already serving a 42-month sentence for illegally possessing a machine gun, will now serve an additional 63 months for the bank fraud scheme, extending his federal prison sentence. He was also ordered to pay $1,254,790 in restitution related to the fraud.
Brown and 20 co-defendants participated in a scheme from January 2021 to October 2022, where they conspired to defraud financial institutions, including USAA Bank, Chase Bank, Bank of America, and others. The group targeted elderly customers of USAA Bank, obtaining their account information through employees at the Teleperformance Call Center in Shreveport.
The conspirators created counterfeit checks and used stolen account information to withdraw funds in various ways, including at casinos, ATMs, and through online payment services like PayPal and Apple Cash. In total, the counterfeit checks traced to the fraudulent activity amounted to over $4 million.
Brown and his co-defendants used social media to recruit individuals willing to deposit the counterfeit checks and take a portion of the funds. Surveillance footage captured some of their casino transactions, aiding in the investigation.
All defendants involved in the scheme have either pleaded guilty or entered into pretrial diversion agreements. Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook urged the public to regularly check their bank accounts and report any suspicious transactions to avoid becoming victims of fraud.
