Greenbelt, Maryland – Jude Egbufoama, a/k/a Chino, age 37, of Beltsville, Maryland, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud, in connection with two separate fraud schemes.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron; Special Agent in Charge Matthew R. Stohler of the United States Secret Service – Washington Field Office; and Postal Inspector in Charge Daniel A. Adame of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service – Washington Division.
According to his guilty plea, between September 2018 and February 2019, Egbufoama conspired with William Gunn, Trishan Deva, Montee Gibson, and other co-conspirators to execute a bank fraud scheme, taking over and withdrawing funds from individual victims’ accounts. Egbufoama also admitted that from January 2020 to November 2020, he engaged in a second fraud scheme, stealing checks from the U.S. mail, altering and depositing the stolen checks into bank accounts opened for that purpose (the drop accounts), then obtaining and depositing the fraudulent proceeds of the stolen and altered checks into Egbufoama’s personal checking account before the fraud was discovered.
Bank Fraud Scheme
Specifically, as detailed in the plea agreement, at the direction of Egbufoama and Co-conspirator 3, Gibson and Deva, who were bank employees, accessed the bank’s internal signature card database to retrieve account information for accounts with high balances (“the victim accounts”). Using the internal bank database, Gibson and Deva unlawfully acquired the victims’ account numbers and the account holders’ personal identifying information, which they provided to co-conspirators, including Egbufoama and Co-conspirator 3. Egbufoama and Co-conspirator 3 then produced or obtained fraudulent identification cards that Gunn and Co-Conspirator 2 used to conduct account takeovers of the victim accounts by going to branch offices of the bank in Montgomery, Baltimore, and Anne Arundel Counties in Maryland and making large withdrawals of cash and/or cashier’s checks. The cashier’s checks were later deposited into business accounts opened under the names of shell companies controlled by co-conspirators. The fraudulent identification documents that Egbufoama produced or obtained displayed the personally identifiable information of the victim account holders, but the photographs of the co-conspirators who entered the bank to withdraw the funds.
On at least 14 occasions between October 20, 2018 and February 14, 2019, the conspirators conducted account takeover transactions involving at least seven individual victims and several companies. In total, the intended loss reasonably foreseeable to Egbufoama and within the scope of the bank fraud scheme was between $550,000 and $1,500,000. The intended loss was at least $780,550 and the actual loss suffered by the victims as a result of the bank fraud scheme was at least $393,858.
Check Fraud Scheme
According to the plea agreement, Egbufoama also conspired with others to steal checks from the U.S. Mail, alter and deposit the stolen checks into drop accounts, and then purchase U.S. Postal money orders using debit cards tied to the drop accounts and cashier’s checks drawn on the drop accounts. Many of the money orders and cashiers’ checks were later deposited into Egbufoama’s checking account.
For example, on April 13, 2020, Co-conspirator 3 deposited a stolen and altered check in the amount of $50,000 into Drop Account 1 held in the name of Entity 1. Using the debit card linked to Drop Account 1, co-conspirators used approximately $26,000 of the proceeds of the stolen check to purchase multiple U.S. Postal money orders made payable to Egbufoama in denominations up to $1,000, each of which was deposited to Egbufoama’s checking account between April 21, 2020, and May 20, 2020.
Similarly, on February 4, 2020, Egbufoama deposited a $5,000 stolen and altered check to Drop Account 2 held in the name of Individual 1. On February 15, 2020, Egbufoama deposited a $1,000 U.S. Postal money order into his checking account that was purchased with the partial proceeds of the stolen check.
In total, as a result of the check fraud scheme, at least approximately $94,515 in U.S. Postal money orders traceable to the proceeds of stolen and altered checks were deposited into Egbufoama’s checking account between January 2020 and November 2020.
The proceeds of stolen and altered checks were also withdrawn from the drop accounts via cashier’s checks and personal checks made payable to Egbufoama that were later deposited into Egbufoama’s checking account.
For example, on June 4, 2020, a stolen and altered check in the amount of $350,978 was deposited into Drop Account 5 held in the name of Entity 2. On June 22, 2020, Egbufoama deposited into his personal checking account, a business check in the amount of $80,000 payable to himself that was funded with the partial proceeds of the stolen and altered check.
According to the plea agreement, after depositing the U.S. Postal money orders and cashier’s and personal checks into his checking account, Egbufoama spent a portion of the proceeds on personal expenses and transferred the remaining fraud proceeds to his savings account. Egbufoama admitted in his plea agreement that between January 2020 and November 2020, he transferred approximately $109,100 from his checking to his savings account.
In total, as a result of the check fraud scheme, at least approximately $116,750 in cashier’s checks and personal checks made payable to Egbufoama traceable to the proceeds of stolen and altered checks were deposited into his personal checking account between February 2020 and September 2020. The intended loss reasonably foreseeable to Egbufoama and within the scope of the check fraud scheme was between $550,000 and $1,500,000. The intended loss attributable to the stolen checks and money orders involved in the check fraud scheme was at least $705,109.68, and Egbufoama obtained at least $211,265 in proceeds as a result of the check fraud scheme.
On March 29, 2021, law enforcement executed search and seizure warrants at Egbufoama’s residence and on his checking and savings accounts. The government seized a total of $172,186 from Egbufoama’s savings and checking accounts.
Upon entering the residence to execute the search warrant, federal agents saw Egbufoama attempting to flush multiple checks down the toilet in the bathroom of the residence. Egbufoama locked himself in the bathroom and agents broke into the bathroom, ordered Egbufoama to stop destroying evidence, and arrested him.
Law enforcement seized the following items from the residence: hundreds of personal checks all bearing unidentified names that are suspected to be victims of mail theft; additional checks payable to various entities that appear to be counterfeit; approximately $51,463 in cash; money orders, including Postal money orders; debit and credit cards displaying names of suspected identity theft victims; and blank check stock. Law enforcement also seized five Apple iPhones, laptop and desktop computers, tablets, two printers, a camera with two SD card and a USB drive. One of the printers was loaded with blank check stock at the time of seizure.
Additionally, law enforcement seized firearms and ammunition, including: a .380 caliber handgun; a military style semi-automatic pistol manufactured without a serial number equipped with a high-capacity magazine that could chamber 300AAC ammunition; and six rounds of.380 caliber ammunition. Egbufoama admitted that he possessed the firearms and ammunition in connection with the fraud schemes.
Egbufoama faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for the conspiracy and for bank fraud. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis has scheduled sentencing for March 10, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. As part of his plea agreement, Egbufoama agreed to forfeit to the United States $223,649 in fraud proceeds and money orders totaling $1,500. Egbufoama also agreed to abandon all interests in the seized firearms and ammunition and the recovered electronics. Egbufoama also will be required to pay restitution in the full amount of the victims’ losses, which is at least $393,858 for the bank fraud scheme and up to $705,109.68 for the check fraud scheme.
Co-conspirators William Gunn, age 59, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland; Trishan Deva, age 25, of Adelphi, Maryland; and Montee Gibson, age 33, of Beltsville, Maryland, have all pleaded guilty to their roles in the fraud scheme and are awaiting sentencing.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron commended the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelly O. Hayes and Jennifer L. Wine, who are prosecuting the case.
For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, or to report fraud, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md, https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/report-fraud.
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