A group of twenty-four individuals has been charged for their alleged participation in a theft scheme that resulted in the defrauding of central Pennsylvania’s financial institutions and their customers, amounting to over $3 million.
Jeremy Antuan Boria Fraticelli is accused of leading the organization that focused on individuals who had money in banks in Cumberland, Dauphin, and York Counties.
Fraticelli, a 22-year-old resident of York, has been accused, along with 23 other individuals, of participating in a criminal organization. The charges against them include corrupt organizations, identity theft, access device fraud, and other related offenses.
“This criminal enterprise ruthlessly deceived hard-working Pennsylvanians and violated their sense of security by stealing from bank accounts — to the tune of more than three million dollars,” Attorney General Sunday said. “Thanks to a collaborative, comprehensive investigation with the Pennsylvania State Police, we were able to identify the bad actors and their methods in this widespread scheme. We also thank the financial institutions for their full cooperation in the investigation.”
Fraticelli and his co-conspirators are accused of deceiving customers by posing as customer service representatives from financial institutions in order to obtain their private banking information. Once they had stolen this information, they proceeded to access the victims’ accounts and transfer their funds to funnel accounts.
According to reports, the organization’s members are said to have withdrawn the funds and divided the profits among themselves.
“This case highlights the lengths criminals will go to exploit innocent people for financial gain,” said Colonel Christopher Paris, Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner. “The Pennsylvania State Police is committed to working with our partners to identify and dismantle these fraudulent operations, ensuring those responsible are held accountable. We will continue to pursue those who engage in identity theft and financial fraud to protect the security of Pennsylvanians.”
Fraticelli, along with five other top officials, was arrested in October. The other individuals arrested were Kermith Roldan-Lopez, Juan Woodard Jr., Tahire Reid, Daniel Casiano, and Shawn Chance, all from York. It has been reported that there are ongoing arrests of the remaining 18 co-conspirators.