Bronx Man Sentenced: 3 – 9 Years For $450K Check Fraud

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Published on September 25, 2012, 10:14 pm
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The mastermind in an elaborate check fraud scheme was sentenced to three to nine years behind bars for his role in a scheme to steal at least $450,000 from TD Bank on earlier today.

Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said that Joel Luciano, 30, spearheaded the operation that took advantage of a weakness in the banking system.

Luciano, who was convicted of grand larceny, recruited people to open at least 90 accounts at various TD Banks. The account owners would then deposit a bad check and withdraw the money before the check had cleared using casino ATMs with high or no withdrawal limits.

“He was like a shark in the water,” said assistant district attorney Kenn Kern of Luciano.

The conviction is the result of an 18-month investigation that yielded 62 guilty pleas from defendants.

He will not be required to pay the bank back.

“They’ve never asked for restitution,” said his lawyer, Patrick Michael Megaro. “I assume the bank will write it off their balance sheet.”

Megaro said that his client never made more than “$100 here, $200 there” on the scheme.

Luciano should be eligible for parole in 9 to 10 months, the lawyer said.

 

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Jonas Bronck is the pseudonym under which we publish and manage the content and operations of The Bronx Daily.™ | Bronx.com - the largest daily news publication in the borough of "the" Bronx with over 1.5 million annual readers. Publishing under the alias Jonas Bronck is our humble way of paying tribute to the person, whose name lives on in the name of our beloved borough.