5 Charged In Massive Credit Union Fraud Ring: Nassau DA

Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas and United States Postal Inspector in Charge Philip R. Bartlett announced the arrest of five -- mainly from New York City -- for allegedly running a massive fraud ring that tried to steal more than $1 million from credit unions.

Singas said that the five people, over more than a year, targeted credit unions using stolen identities and loan fraud in an attempt to steal from the financial institutions. Singas said it was one of the largest identity theft cases Nassau County has ever seen.

Dacson Sears, 36, of Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, was charged with two counts of second-degree grand larceny, three counts of first-degree identity theft and first-degree scheme to defraud. He faces seven-and-a-half to 15 years in prison if convicted of the top charge.

Nyantakyi Boateng, 32, of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, was charged with two counts of second-degree grand larceny, first-degree identity theft and first-degree scheme to defraud. He faces five to 15 years in prison if convicted of the top charge.

Konstantinos Toikas, 28, of Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, was charged with third-degree grand larceny, first-degree identity theft and first-degree scheme to defraud. He faces 2 1/3 to seven years in prison if convicted of the top charge.

Amber Mantock, 25, of Astoria, Queens, was charged with third-degree grand larceny, first-degree identity theft and first-degree scheme to defraud. She faces 2 1/3 to seven years in prison if convicted of the top charge.

Summer Aboushady, 26, of Jackson Heights, Queens, was charged with first-degree scheme to defraud, six counts of first-degree falsifying business records and third-degree unlawful possession of personal identification information. She faces 1 1/3 to four years in prison if convicted of the top charge.

All five were arraigned on Feb. 27 and are due back in court on March 1.

“Over the course of a year these defendants allegedly operated a highly sophisticated and organized loan and identity theft ring,” Singas said. “The effects of this type of fraud are devastating for those who have to reclaim their identities and the banks that have to recoup financial losses. This investigation, one of the largest identity theft cases we have ever investigated, highlights the importance of strong working relationships among all levels of law enforcement. I thank our partners at the United States Postal Inspection Service for their assistance on this case.”

According to Singas, from February 2018 to February 2019, Sears, the ringleader of the operation, filed for more than 100 loan applications at Nassau Educators Federal Credit Union, Pentagon Federal Credit Union, Digital Credit Union, Comtrust Federal Credit Union and Navy Federal Credit Union, using the stolen identities of hundreds of individuals with good credit.

Singas said that evidence showed that the ring targeted hundreds of people, created profiles with their information, ran their credit reports and got more information about their victims from the dark web. The ring also got information about people from school and hospital websites, Singas said.

Sears is the owner of Sears Credit Advisory Counselling LLC., a credit repair service, which he operates out of his Brooklyn apartment.

Singas said that the loans, in amounts ranging from $7,500 to $35,000, were filed electronically with the stolen identities, using their names and social security numbers. In many of the cases, a money order was used to open the loan, and once the credit union approved it, the loan money was deposited into bank accounts opened in the victims’ names, Singas said. Sears is also accused of opening credit cards in the victims’ names.

Singas said that Aboushady worked for Capital One as a banker, and that she stole account information and sold it to the other members of the ring. While working at Capital One, she allegedly opened accounts for Sears in the names of the stolen identities so he could have loans deposited into the accounts.

Singas said that Sears, Boateng, Mantock and Toikas all withdrew the money from ATMs and spent it on things like car loans, rent and airline tickets. Sears and Boateng also opened accounts with the assistance of Aboushady, Singas said. Boateng, a former collegiate wide receiver, and Toikas, a security guard and club bouncer, also deposited loan proceed checks into bank accounts controlled by the ring, said Singas.

During the scheme, Singas said that the group tried to steal more than $1,000,000 from the credit unions, while successfully stealing more than $250,000. That figure is expected to increase as investigators sort through the evidence recovered at Sears’ home and storage locker, Singas said.

The scheme came to light when the credit unions became aware of certain loans that were in arrears. Credit union employees discovered that people who they thought they lent the money to were in fact identity theft victims who didn’t yet know their identities were stolen. One of the credit unions, NEFCU, then reported their financial losses to the NCDA and USPIS.

“This 'gang' of thieves conspired to steal financial DNA of their unknowing victims and manipulate financial institution’s lending practices to greedily pad their pockets," said Bartlett. "Due to the extraordinary efforts of law enforcement, we were able to uncover their crimes and bring the defendants to justice, putting an end to their lies and thievery.”

Following a six-month-long investigation, the five were arrested on Tuesday, Feb. 26 by. During an execution of search warrants, investigators seized hundreds of files containing victims’ personal and financial information, credit reports, fake identification cards, a cash counting machine, cash wrappers, computers, phones and cash, Singas said.

The NCDA and USPIS are actively working with all known victims to review and repair the damage to their credit. The investigation into this case continues, and if you believe you may be a victim, please contact the NCDA’s Financial Crimes Bureau at 516-571-2149.