HAMMOND, IN – Three Honduran nationals have been sentenced in federal court for their roles in a sweeping bank fraud operation that defrauded small businesses and community banks across the United States, federal prosecutors announced. The sentences, handed down by U.S. District Judge Philip P. Simon on December 12 and 15, mark the latest chapter in a multistate conspiracy investigators say stretched from Indiana to Oklahoma.
Carlos Aquino Sosa, 26, was sentenced to 41 months in prison followed by one year of supervised release after pleading guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. He was ordered to pay $533,043 in restitution. Edwin Palacios Sosa, 27, received 27 months in prison and one year of supervised release for two counts of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of illegal re-entry. He was also ordered to pay $533,043 in restitution. Delvin Velasquez Romero, 33, received a time-served sentence of roughly 17 months and one year of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and illegal re-entry. He was ordered to pay $233,569 in restitution.
All three defendants are nationals of Honduras without legal status in the United States and will face removal proceedings following their release.
Court documents detail how the trio and their co-conspirators used counterfeit identification cards to cash hundreds of fraudulent paychecks at banks in Indiana and Oklahoma. On January 11, 2023, the group cashed 169 fake paychecks totaling $233,569 at three branches of the same bank in northern Indiana. The checks appeared to be issued by a dairy farming company in the region.
Nearly six months later, on June 23, 2023, the same group used fake IDs again to cash 178 counterfeit paychecks worth $299,474 at five bank branches and three check-cashing businesses in eastern Oklahoma. Those checks were designed to look like payroll from a building materials supply company.
Acting U.S. Attorney M. Scott Proctor said the case exemplified extensive cooperation among agencies. “These defendants participated in a far-reaching conspiracy that caused major financial harm to small businesses and community banks across the United States,” Proctor said. “The sentences imposed by the court send a message that there are real consequences for engaging in fraud, particularly in northwest Indiana.”
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Chicago led the federal investigation with support from the Indiana State Police and local law enforcement in multiple states. “The illicit actions of co-conspirators to commit bank fraud as they travel throughout the United States will not be tolerated,” said HSI Special Agent in Charge Matthew J. Scarpino.
Indiana State Police Sergeant Jeremy Piers praised the interagency effort, calling it an example of “investigative teamwork that spans state lines.” He said detectives and troopers spent months tracking the suspects’ movements and gathering evidence that ultimately unraveled the conspiracy.
Two additional co-conspirators, Luis Banegas Rodriguez and Ricardo Castro Murillo, were previously sentenced to 27 and 37 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in the same scheme.
