Plot To Steal $2M In Church Checks Leads To Rockville Man's Conviction

GREENBELT, MD — A 29-year-old Rockville man was convicted in federal court on Friday for his role in a bank fraud scheme aimed at stealing nearly $2 million in checks mailed to churches and other religious institutions, according to court documents.

Diape Seck, a former bank customer service employee, was found guilty of conspiracy to commit bank fraud; bank fraud; making false entries in bank records; and receipt of a bribe or reward by a bank employee. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison for each of those charges, according to court documents.

Evidence presented in the eight-day trial showed that Seck conspired with Mateus Vaduva, Marius Vaduva, Vlad Baceanu, Nicolae Gindac, Florin Vaduva, Marian Unguru, Daniel Velcu, Vali Unguru and others to commit bank fraud.

From January 2019 to January 2020, Seck opened bank accounts with fake identities in exchange for cash bribes, according to court documents. His co-conspirators used the accounts to deposit checks stolen from the incoming and outgoing mail of churches and other religious institutions, as well as a rental car fraud they were conducting. They later withdrew the money from the accounts and spent the proceeds.

As part of the conspiracy, Seck opened hundreds of fake accounts, sometimes with his co-conspirators using foreign identity documents, at the bank he was employed at and at other financial institutions. He even opened accounts without his co-conspirators being present, according to court documents. In exchange for opening these accounts, Seck received cash payments from his co-conspirators.

Seck violated numerous bank policies by opening around 412 checking accounts from about Jan. 2, 2019 through Jan. 3, 2020, based on court documents and witness testimony. He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang on June 2.