Alleged $400K Phony Check Scheme Targeted TD Bank

Two Union County women who allegedly ran a check-counterfeiting operation aimed at Cherry Hill-based TD Bank were indicted Thursday, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Paul J. Fishman announced.

Synethia Bland, 29, and Latisha White, 28, both of Elizabeth, spent nearly three years running their scheme, which used a network of people who either already held accounts or opened new accounts, authorities said.

Bland and White used those people to run 150 counterfeit checks, most in amounts less than $5,000, authorities said, depositing the fakes and withdrawing the money before TD Bank could discover the checks were counterfeit during the run of the scheme, between October 2009 and May 2012.

The women would get the account holders, who were promised a cut of the cash, to withdraw the money in various ways, or buy money orders and merchandise, authorities said, and eventually deposited more than $600,000 in fake checks across 120 accounts.

The scheme cost TD Bank at least $400,000 in losses, authorities said, and both White and Bland have been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and three counts of bank fraud.

Each of the four charges is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of $1 million.