Valley Stream Man Accused Of Stealing Bank Client Info To Aid $1.6M ID Theft Scheme: Feds

BROOKLYN, NY — A Valley Stream man is being charged with bank fraud this week after he used access to bank records from a previous job to help conduct a phony withdrawal scheme, prosecutors said.

According to the U.S. Attorney's office, 41-year-old Valley Stream resident Darren Stephenson was arrested in Brooklyn Thursday in connection with a bank fraud scheme that he carried out alongside Brooklyn residents Catora Noel and Imani-Kai Brown.

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Prosecutors said the scheme ran from July of 2022 to September of 2024 and allowed the trio to steal over $1.6 million from dozens of different accounts using fraudulently obtained debit cards.

According to prosecutors, Stephenson used privileged access to customer information at a bank where he used to work to steal account and identifying information about the bank's customers. Once he had the information, prosecutors said Stephenson passed it along to Brown and Noel.

From there, the trio would make recorded calls to banks where they impersonated customers — providing names, identifying information and debit card numbers — before requesting that the bank send a new debit card, prosecutors said. When the bank asked for the address to send the debit card, prosecutors said the Brown, Noel and Stephenson would list an address they could access.

In addition to these calls, prosecutors said the trio took debit cards from mail deposits, and posed as bank customers to make "unauthorized and fraudulent transactions, including wire transfers, teller withdrawals, and automated teller machine withdrawals."

Specifically, prosecutors said, Noel called and visited bank locations to pose as a customer and request wire transfers and withdrawals. Noel also made fraudulent ATM withdrawals using the debit cards, prosecutors said.

"As alleged, Noel, Stephenson, and Brown engaged in a coordinated scheme to defraud financial institutions and steal over $1.6 million from the bank accounts of dozens of hardworking New Yorkers," U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said. "As part of this scheme, Stephenson exploited his employment at a bank to feed sensitive customer information to his co-defendants, who intercepted bank debit cards and posed as bank customers over the phone and in person. Thanks to the tireless efforts of our law enforcement partners, this insider scheme has been disrupted."

Brown, Noel and Stephenson are each charged with one count of bank fraud conspiracy and one count of aggravated identity theft, while Noel faces an additional charge of access device fraud, prosecutors said. If they're found guilty, the bank fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, while the identity theft charge has a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison, prosecutors said. If Noel is found guilty of device fraud, prosecutors said that charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.