Naugatuck Woman Pleads Guilty To Bank Fraud Charge: Feds

NAUGATUCK, CT — A Naugatuck woman pleaded guilty to a bank fraud charge Tuesday, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut David Sullivan and Acting Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division, J. Buck Buckley announced in a news release.

According to court documents and statements made in court, between approximately July 2022 and February 2023, Gianna Parente, 23, of Naugatuck, was involved in a scheme in which "runners" were recruited to provide their debit cards and banking information so that Parente and others could deposit fraudulent checks into the runners' accounts at Bank of America.

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Sullivan and Buckley said some of the checks were stolen from the U.S. Mail, with original payee information and dollar amounts "washed" and altered.

After depositing the fraudulent checks into the accounts, Parente and others then withdrew or tried to withdraw money before the bank realized the checks were fraudulent, according to Sullivan and Buckley.

Bank fraud carries a maximum prison term of 30 years, according to Sullivan and Buckley.

Parente is released on a $25,000 bond pending sentencing, which is not scheduled, Sullivan and Buckley said.