A 31-year-old woman from Tacoma, Aneicia Ford, has been charged in a bank fraud scheme that allegedly involved stealing $345,000 by misusing her position at a western Washington credit union. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, Ford worked from home as a customer service representative from May to October 2022. In this role, she had access to sensitive member information, which she allegedly shared with her co-conspirator, Dangelo Roberts.
Roberts, 21, is accused of using this information to steal from customer accounts and promoting his ability to create false identification materials on social media. He reportedly sought to recruit additional individuals to access the victims’ accounts. Four other defendants are charged in connection with the scheme for allegedly obtaining fake IDs using the stolen information, which they then used to acquire debit cards and withdraw funds, frequently at the credit union’s branches. The credit union involved is referred to as “victim credit union” in federal court documents. The fraudulent activities reportedly affected residents in King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties.
Customers who lost money due to the fraud have been fully reimbursed by the credit union, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
On May 17, 2022, Ford and a co-conspirator are accused of withdrawing $25,000 from a credit union member’s account. Later that month, they allegedly withdrew another $25,000 from a different victim. The conspirators are said to have misused the victims’ funds by ordering cashier’s checks and purchasing postal money orders made payable to themselves or associates. They reportedly exploited their access to transfer funds between accounts and check account balances.
Ford made her initial court appearance via summons on August 1 before Judge Brian A. Tsuchida in U.S. District Court in Seattle, pleading not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and six counts of aggravated identity theft. She was released pending further proceedings with specific conditions.
Roberts was arrested on July 26 when the indictment was unsealed and also pleaded not guilty the same day to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and two counts of aggravated identity theft. Judge Tsuchida released him with conditions until his next court date. The four other co-conspirators face similar charges, with varying counts of identity theft. Two have pleaded not guilty, while the others are yet to make their first court appearances. The accused co-conspirators include Shanna Carter-Zanders, 42, of Auburn; Kohrey Lee Bridges, 22, of Tumwater; Anthony McQueen, 36, of Seattle; and Meghan Frazier, 21, of University Place.