Father, Son Arrested In Attempted $18K Bank Fraud: Fairfield Police

FAIRFIELD, CT — A father and son from Pennsylvania were arrested Wednesday after police say the dad attempted to withdraw $18,000 in cash from a fraudulent bank account.

The service manager at Wells Fargo Bank, located at 2115 Black Rock Turnpike in Fairfield, told the man that she needed to verify some things before she could give him the cash. The man left a phone number and asked the teller to call him when the money was ready, according to Lt. Robert Kalamaras.

The service manager then notified police of the suspicious activity, along with the description of the vehicle and its occupants. To sign up for Fairfield breaking news alerts and more, click here.

Kalamaras said officers located a vehicle that matched the description on Unquowa Road, near Post Road, and then conducted a field identification of the occupants inside. The service manager positively identified the vehicle and the occupants as those that were involved in the attempted fraudulent banking activity, according to Kalamaras.

Police conducted a search of both occupants and discovered a large amount of money along with several fraudulent identifications that were used in the bank fraud, Kalamaras said.

Anthony Innarella Sr., 60, of Bethlehem, Pa., was arrested after police identified him as the man who attempted to withdraw $18,000 in cash from a fraudulent bank account by using a fake New Jersey driver’s license that had his photo on it with a different name and a date of birth that belonged to another person, according to Kalamaras.

He was also found to be in the possession of a Wells Fargo Debit Card and a Capital One Credit Card with the same name that was on the New Jersey driver’s license.

Anthony Innarella Jr., 33, of Bethlehem, Pa., was arrested after police say he was the other occupant in the vehicle with his father and was also found to have a fake Pennsylvania driver’s license with his photo on it and a different name and date of birth that belonged to another person.

Anthony Jr. was also found to be in the possession of a Wells Fargo Debit Card and a Capital One Credit Card with the same information that was on the Pennsylvania driver’s license, according to Kalamaras.

Anthony Innarella Sr. was arrested on charges of criminal attempt to commit second-degree larceny conspiracy to commit second-degree larceny, criminal impersonation, identity theft and three counts of first-degree forgery.

Anthony Innarella Jr. was arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit second-degree larceny and three counts of first-degree forgery.

Bond for both suspects was set at $250,000 with a court date of April 18.

Kalamaras said the case was turned over to Detective Bureau for further investigation and follow-up. Police believe that these suspects committed similar crimes in other jurisdictions in the Fairfield County area.

Anyone with additional information regarding these suspects is asked to call the Fairfield Police Detective Bureau at (203)254-4840, or Text-A-Tip to CRIMES (274637).

Photos via the Fairfield Police Department