Two men from Federal Way were among 10 suspects federal prosecutors charged with 60 counts of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft on Feb. 26.
Johnathan Marquiel Turner, 22, and Calvin Dewayne Davis, 26, of Federal Way are believed to have stolen victims’ pin numbers to steal money by inflating their accounts with fake deposits.
These charges allege the suspects stole more than $987,000 between November 2010 and February 2015.
According to U.S. District Court documents, Turner and Davis were part of a group that planned and carried out a scheme, sometimes known as “Bank Liq,” to defraud seven banks — Bank of America, BECU, TwinStar Credit Union, Wells Fargo Bank, Sound Credit Union, Key Bank and Banner Bank, all federally insured.
Prosecutors allege the suspects — which include Clayton Leon Bias, Jr., 25, and Shawn Andre Turner, 24, of Kent; Arthur Napoleand Wilcher, 29, Amanda Rae Riffle, 28, Relonna Dollinn Ward, 34, and Sephora Quilyn Watkins, 27, of Tacoma; Okila Ayanna Malayka Ulmer, 31, of Renton; and Avery Edward Lee, 32, of Milton — made invalid deposits into victims’ accounts, “temporarily inflating the balance of available funds.”
Court documents state the invalid deposits caused the banks to increase the victims’ account balance, “thereby making funds available for withdrawal.”
The scammers then withdrew the money based on the “artificially inflated” balances before the banks realized the deposits were fake.
The suspects are alleged to have gained access to 219 customer accounts, although some customers freely gave them access and were involved in the scheme. Other accounts were stolen through identity theft.
Detectives were able to pinpoint specific instances in which Davis and Turner inflated the bank accounts.
Prosecutors believe Davis illegally deposited $1,991 into Bank of America on June 6, 2013; withdrew $300 following an invalid deposit on July 24, 2013 at a Bank of America and again withdrew $480 from a different account on Sept. 4, 2013 at a BECU following an invalid deposit.
Turner is suspected of withdrawing $1,200 on March 29, 2013 at the Bank of America after depositing a fake deposit; withdrawing $1,500 on April 20, 2013 from a Bank of America after an invalid deposit and depositing $2,386 into a victim’s bank account at Bank of America on Sept. 11, 2014. Davis allegedly stole the debit card pin numbers of three different bank accounts while Turner is suspected of stealing three as well.
A special agent with the United States Secret Service who investigated this case said Bank Liq schemes can be successful because banks often make “some portion of the funds available to the account holder even though it may take a few days for the invalid nature of the check to be detected and the deposit reversed.” Charging documents state in order to conceal identities, perpetrators avoid using their own bank accounts.
The investigation into this fraud ring began in June 2013 when Bank of America security employees notified the Seattle Field Office of the United States Secret Service of the scheme. Investigators quickly realized the suspects were also linked to other banks in the Seattle area that reported Bank Liq schemes.
Court records indicate Davis has been convicted of bank fraud in 2008 and 2011 for a scheme similar to this one. He is currently in jail serving an eight-month sentence for the revocation of his supervised released in the District of Oregon, where he committed the previous fraud scheme. He will be arraigned on March 5 at the Western District of Washington U.S. District Court. Turner was arrested but has since pleaded not guilty to the fraud charges.
At least eight other defendants are in custody.
