Multiple Fraud and Other Offenses

Some fraudsters dip their toe in the proverbial fraud pool before jumping in. They’ll dabble in something small before gaining confidence to pull off larger and more complicated fraud schemes. Jeurin Celado, a Dominican national, went all in. You could say that he did...

Katrina Pierce, a South Side Chicago woman, could very well fall into the “stealing as a full-time occupation” category. She has been charged for obtaining dozens of death certificates for young Chicago murder victims, posing as their relative. Pierce purportedly used the stolen identities...

Some fraudsters are blinded by greed, some by love, and others by both. That seems to be the case for a Virginia Beach couple who pleaded guilty to running a nationwide counterfeit coupon fraud scheme that federal prosecutors say cost retailers and manufacturers nearly...

“Never enough” greed is a major driver for many fraud schemes. But for some crooks, the thrill of the fraud also seems to be at play. This is the case for Cameron Banks (AKA Reggie Stagger, AKA Roy Hamilton) of Mount Pleasant, S.C. In...

Some fraudsters concoct elaborate schemes, while others rely on the basics from YouTube. When scammers opt for the latter, you would think they’d exercise some caution. (If they found the technique online, so have the good guys.) But some of these folks are all...

When Robert Lee Snowden, of Owings Mills, Md., was laid off as a temp at a healthcare business, he launched a lucrative new career. From 2013 until well into 2020, he conspired to defraud the Maryland Department of Human Services, the Federal Supplemental Nutrition...

A snowball effect is described metaphorically as a process that begins as something very small, but as it gains momentum, it becomes larger, more serious, and perhaps even dangerous or devastating. Rashawn Prioleau, 35, of Charlotte, N.C., triggered an avalanche when he allegedly engaged...

Voting has commenced for the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election and with that comes legitimate concerns of voter fraud. One of the most recent cases of voting interference involves a ballot drop box in Los Angeles County that was set ablaze. Approximately one hundred ballots...

Sometimes people must find out the hard way that’s it’s better to tell the truth than to lie. A Yakima, Wash., woman, who is charged with theft and multiple counts of making false statements to welfare officials over five years, is the focus of...

There are many reasons why someone becomes an impersonator. For example, celebrity impersonators make fun of the personal lives of famous or political figures to make us laugh and keep us entertained. Others impersonate political or military figures to act as a decoy so...