Prison Time for Five in Bank Fraud Scam

Five people were sentenced to federal prison time for a conspiracy where they conned people into depositing fraudulent checks and then giving the subjects cash.

Julius C. Appling, Taj J. Tillison, Tal V. Tillison, Aryonne Johnson, and Andrew Smith, a/k/a Dru, used their scheme to deposit fraudulent checks at Wells Fargo and SunTrust banks in the metropolitan Atlanta area.

“The defendants were able to commit this fraud because they duped unwitting people into allowing them access to their personal bank accounts,” said U.S. Attorney John Horn. “Alarm bells should go off if anyone offers you money in return for depositing their check into your bank account so that they can immediately get the cash from the check. Days later when that person is long gone and you learn that the check bounced, you will be held financially responsible.”

Checks drawn from accounts that had long been closed where offered to victims in exchange for cash, according to Horn. Once the checks had bounced, those individuals were held responsible for the losses by the banks.

Each defendant was captured in multiple photos taken by ATM cameras for many of the deposits and withdrawals. Ultimately, the five defendants gained access to more than 200 bank accounts. The defendants deposited over $880,000 worth of fraudulent checks and withdrew over $360,000.

All five defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

• Taj J. Tillison, 24, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to four years, three months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. She was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $88,933.67.
• Julius C. Appling, 25, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to four years, nine months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. He was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $364,250.43.
• Tal V. Tillison, 25, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to four years, nine months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. He was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $300,807.34.
• Andrew Smith, a/k/a Dru, 34, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to two years, nine months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. He was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $92,415.08.
• Aryonne Johnson, 25, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to two years, nine months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. She was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $162,734.65.