LOS ANGELES – A South Los Angeles man was sentenced today to 87 months in federal prison for leading a conspiracy that defrauded banks and credit unions out of at least $2.7 million by depositing checks stolen from the mail into bank accounts belonging to accomplices he recruited via Instagram.
Carlos Corona, 37, was sentenced by United States District Judge John F. Walter, who also ordered him to pay $2,722,632 in restitution.
Corona pleaded guilty on May 1 to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
From October 2020 to August 2023, Corona and other co-conspirators engaged in an elaborate bank fraud scheme using third-party bank accounts and stolen checks. Some co-conspirators stole checks from the U.S. mail stream, including from post office mail collection boxes located outside post offices.
The conspirators took possession of the stolen checks. They, along with others, then solicited bank account holders through social media to provide their debit cards and bank account information, promising these account holders a cut of any fraudulent funds deposited into their accounts.
To circumvent the fraud protections of the banks and credit unions, Corona and others specifically requested bank accounts that had been open for a certain amount of time so they could get access to the stolen funds more quickly.
Bank account holders responded to the social media advertisements and provided members of the conspiracy with the information requested on the ads, including bank account numbers, PIN numbers, debit cards and online banking log-in information.
Corona and other co-conspirators exchanged the bank account holders’ information with each other, and then they deposited the stolen checks into these bank accounts. In most cases, the stolen checks were falsely endorsed in the original payee’s name. Sometimes, the checks were washed or altered to make the payee name correspond to the bank account into which the checks were being deposited.
Corona and others then rapidly depleted the fraudulently deposited funds from the account holders’ accounts by making cash withdrawals, electronic transfers, and debit card purchases. To conceal the fraud, members of the conspiracy instructed account holders – if the banks and credit unions contacted them about the fraudulent deposits – to claim that their accounts had been compromised.
During the scheme, Corona intended to cause at least $5.3 million in losses to the banks and credit unions and caused actual losses to lenders of at least $2.7 million.
Prosecutors have secured 10 convictions in this case.
The United States Postal Inspection Service and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this matter. The Los Angeles Police Department provided assistance.
Assistant United States Attorneys Sarah E. Spielberger and Alexandra Michael, both of the General Crimes Section, prosecuted this case.