Man Defrauds RI Companies, MA Nonprofit Out Of Thousands: Feds

PROVIDENCE, RI — A Providence man is facing federal charges after prosecutors said he defrauded Rhode Island businesses and a Massachusetts nonprofit out of tens of thousands of dollars.

Rachon Waite, 31, was charged with wire fraud, bank fraud, access device (ATM) fraud and aggravated identity theft. Waite defrauded the organizations by depositing fake checks drawn in the entities' names and then withdrew them, said acting U.S. Attorney Richard Myrus.

Federal prosecutors said Waite started his fraud scheme in March 2021 by soliciting people over social media for their debit card numbers and PINs. He used the numbers to deposit the fraudulent checks and promised to pay people back who let him use their account information, prosecutors said.

According to court documents, Waite targeted a Bristol-based engineering company and stole $23,754 with his fraudulent check scheme. Prosecutors said police later learned the fake check was deposited into a Coventry man's account.

Prosecutors said the man told investigators he responded to a solicitation posted on social media by a person he came to know as "RJ," Waite's alias during the scheme. He told investigators he agreed to let Waite use his bank account to deposit checks and withdraw funds, and in return, Waite told the man he'd give him some money.

On March 19, the man saw his account was overdrawn by about $24,000. The next day, the bank closed his account, and the bank kept the remaining funds, including money from the man's pay check. The man told investigators he was never able to contact Waite again, and his debit card was never returned.

Prosecutors said Waite also defrauded a Wrentham, Massachusetts, nonprofit out of $15,000, with two fake checks. According to court documents, two people admitted they allowed Waite to use their bank accounts in a similar scheme to the one used on the Bristol company. Prosecutors said the bank account holder's description of Waite matched the one the man from the Bristol incident gave.

A Coventry woman also told investigators Waite paid her $2,000 to use her bank information to deposit. Prosecutors said Waite withdrew $7,000 from the woman's account and then deposited a fake check for $7,417.14. Waite did the same thing to a Johnston man to also take more than $7,000 from his account, according to prosecutors. Prosecutors said Waite deposited a fraudulent check written in a nonprofit's name into his account and then withdrew most of the money.

Waite was released to the custody of OpenDoors RI following his arraignment in U.S. District Court.