A Georgia man will serve nearly three years in prison for his role in a sophisticated identity theft and bank fraud ring that operated from Georgia to Western New York. Lorenzo Jones, 38, was sentenced to 34 months in prison by United States District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo after being convicted of conspiracy to conduct bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
The sentencing was announced on Tuesday by US Attorney Michael DiGiacomo, who detailed a conspiracy that ran from January to September 2022. According to prosecutors Paul E. Bonanno and Sasha Mascarenhas, Jones and his co-conspirators—Ameer Clark, Quentavious Price, and Montez White—frequently traveled from Atlanta to the Buffalo and Rochester areas to carry out their activities.
The organization targeted local businesses by taking legitimate checks and using them as templates for fake replicas. To circumvent bank security, the conspirators hired locals to act as “runners” to cash the checks.
To make these people appear legitimate, the group bought particular attire that disguised them as construction workers or laborers before transporting them to numerous banks.
Court records identify three distinct waves of activity. In January 2022, Jones and Price flew to Buffalo to target clients for firms in Elma and Tonawanda.
They returned in March, targeting M&T Bank, Bank on Buffalo, and Evans Bank with accounts from Clarence and Sanborn. In September 2022, the entire group flew into Rochester and commanded six different persons to attempt check cashing at numerous financial institutions.
If the checks were successfully cashed, the scheme’s “runners” got relatively minimal amounts in exchange for their participation. Federal authorities estimated that the conspiracy’s entire impact, including both real and intended losses, was $64,979.67.
While Jones is the most recent to be sentenced, his co-conspirators in the conspiracy, Clark, Price, and White, have all previously been convicted of their roles in the fraud ring.
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