Five Atlanta Men Sentenced in Bank Fraud Case

Five Atlanta men have been sentenced to federal prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud by depositing fraudulent checks at metro area Wells Fargo and SunTrust banks.

“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.”

The men are Taj J. Tillison, Julius C. Appling, Andrew Smith, Tal V. Tillison and Aryonne Johnson.

“These five individuals found out the hard way that bank fraud is a serious federal crime involving federal prison time. The FBI treats these types of financial crimes targeting the banking industry very seriously and cautions anyone considering this type of criminal activity to reconsider,” said J. Britt Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office.

According to Horn, the defendants paid individuals for access to their bank accounts at Wells Fargo and SunTrust banks. In connection with this access, the defendants would gain use of the individuals’ ATM and debit cards, including the PIN to allow their use. They would then deposit fraudulent checks into these third party accounts. The checks were drawn on accounts that had long been closed or the checks were completely fake.

The individuals who gave the defendants access to their accounts were not aware that the defendants intended to deposit fraudulent checks into the accounts. Once the checks had bounced, those individuals were held responsible for the losses by the banks.