$7M Bank Fraud Scheme Targeted South Jersey Customers, Man Pleads Guilty: Feds

NEW JERSEY – A Pennsylvania man admitted his role this week in a bank fraud scheme that targeted 12 different financial institutions in South Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania between 2016 and 2020, federal officials said.

Muritala Adeowo, 57, of Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty in Camden federal court on Tuesday to an indictment charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.

Adeowo was part of a Nigerian-based, multi-layered criminal ring that engaged in the bank fraud scheme in several states. Apart from New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the scheme also took place in Maryland, and Rhode Island, federal officials said.

Participants who obtained numerous business checks from U.S. mail altered the payee on the checks to a fraudulent name and deposited the checks into bank accounts, Sellinger said. The bank accounts in question had been opened with forged foreign passport documents and fraudulent U.S. visas that matched the names on the stolen checks, Sellinger added.

Once the banks credited all or a portion of the funds to the accounts – but before the checks had cleared – participants withdrew the funds from ATMs or purchased money orders using debit cards associated with the fraudulent accounts, Sellinger said.

Members of the criminal organization reportedly used over 400 fraudulent accounts opened with fake identity documents to defraud the financial institutions, Sellinger said, adding that the total loss to the victim banks is approximately $7 million.

On Tuesday, Adeowo admitted that he received fake foreign passports for some of the conspirators that were used to open fraudulent accounts at the victim banks. Adeowo also admitted that he received stolen business checks from other conspirators that were then altered to change the payee on the check.

Adeowo was ultimately arrested at his residence on Aug. 25, 2020. Federal agents executed a federal search warrant and seized several stolen business checks that were found in Adeowo’s bedroom.

The bank fraud conspiracy charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1 million.

Sentencing is scheduled for March 16, 2023.