A crew of Bronx street gang members were indicted in a bank fraud scheme that netted more than $10 million, plus nearly pilfered another $12.6 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds, Bronx DA Darcel Clark announced Thursday.
“The defendants allegedly conspired to steal millions of dollars, recruiting vulnerable people as partners in fraud,” Clark said. “At one point, they allegedly attempted to steal $12.6 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds. The defendants allegedly spent the money as quickly as they stole it on luxury items.”
The indictment charges eight members of the Shiesty 66 gang variously with enterprise corruption, forgery, criminal possession of stolen property and other charges related to check-washing and bank fraud schemes.
According to the investigation, which included the US Postal Inspection Service, the US Secret Service, NYPD and the Bronx DA’s office, the defendants exploited loopholes in the banking system to commit fraud throughout the tri-state area and the West Coast.
A November 2021 shooting led police to investigate members of the Bronx gang, whose online profiles showed they were engaging in a so-called “card-cracking” scam, in which the defendants used social media to recruit participants willing to share their debit card and bank information with the fraudsters, Clark said.
The defendants then deposited phony checks into their partners’ bank accounts, before quickly withdrawing cash from an ATM and sending kickbacks to the account holders, who would report their cards stolen.
One gang member even attempted to deposit a stolen US Treasury check worth $12.6 million intended for Mt. Sinai Medical Center for COVID relief.
The defendants spent their ill-gotten gains on designer duds from Gucci, Burberry, Cartier and Louis Vuitton, along with Audemars Piguet and Rolex watches, and trips to Paris, Miami and Kuwait, according to Daniel Brubaker, the head of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service New York Division.
“The defendants…allegedly conspired to steal checks from the mail worth millions of dollars,” Brubaker said. “These stolen funds were allegedly used to support the defendants’ lavish lifestyles. We will utilize every resource at our disposal, travel across the country to identify victims, and leverage every partnership to bring you to justice.”
In 2018, rapper Young Ash was busted for her role in a “card cracking” scam in which she posted ads depicting wads of cash on Snapchat to try to recruit participants.
The artist, whose real name is Ashley Bautista, 22, of the Bronx, allegedly was part of a six-person crew that stole the identities of tenants at a luxury high-rise complex on the Upper West Side between August and September in order to rake in at least $50,000 in stolen funds.