Man Guilty In Multi-State Fraud Scheme Was Arrested In Fairfield

FAIRFIELD, CT — A Pennsylvania man has pleaded guilty to fraud and theft in connection with a scheme spanning multiple states after he was arrested by Fairfield police regarding a fraudulent account at a local bank, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

Anthony C. Innarella Sr., 63, formerly of Kunkletown, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty Monday via video conference before Judge Victor A. Bolden to bank fraud and identity theft offenses, the news release said.

Innarella was arrested by Fairfield police April 5, 2017, in connection with a fraudulent bank account he had opened at a Wells Fargo Bank branch in Fairfield, according to the news release. At the time, Innarella and a co-conspirator had numerous counterfeit driver’s licenses and credit cards, several cellphones bearing sticker labels with the names of different people, more than $34,000 in cash, and other items connecting him to a bank fraud and identity theft scheme.

Innarella and the other person used fake driver’s licenses and credit cards to register phony businesses with municipal offices and county clerks, and get trade name certificates, the news release said. The pair also obtained employer identification numbers from the Internal Revenue Service in the names of the fake businesses.

In 2016 and 2017, Innarella and his co-conspirator posed as business owners and traveled to banks in Connecticut, Delaware, Virginia, New Jersey, Massachusetts and elsewhere, using the fraudulent identifications, trade name certificates and employer identification numbers to open new business bank accounts, according to the news release. Numerous fraudulent accounts were linked to legitimate accounts of the people whose identities Innarella and the other person had used.

More than $1 million was transferred to the fraudulent accounts, and Innarella and the other person withdrew cash and cashier’s checks totaling about $363,000 from the accounts, the news release said.

Innarella has been in federal custody since June 2019, according to the news release. Before that, he was in state custody in Connecticut and New Jersey. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, which carries a maximum 30-year prison term, and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory consecutive two-year prison term. State charges are pending.