RICHMOND, Va. - A Richmond man was sentenced today to nearly five years in prison for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
According to court documents, Christopher Nelson, aka Fabian Ellington III, 42, was part of a group that defrauded the Virginia Credit Union (VACU), a federally insured financial institution, through a sophisticated scheme. In the first step, Nelson, doing business as Financial Solutions, LLC, and others, recruited and paid financially needy individuals to open bank accounts, in their own name, and thereafter turn over to Nelson and his conspirators, the account numbers, debit cards, PINs, and starter checks associated with the new accounts.
In the next step, Nelson and his conspirators would then deposit fraudulent checks into the newly-opened accounts to inflate the account balances. Shortly after the deposits, Nelson or a conspirator would go to an ATM machine or drive-up window, and fraudulently use the debit cards to withdraw currency generated by the fraudulently inflated balances. Nelson and his conspirators also would use the debit cards to purchase items at commercial establishments. After the financial institution detected the scheme and deactivated a fraudulent account, Nelson simply opened a new fraudulent account in the name of a new person, and continued the scheme.
The loss sustained by the Virginia Credit Union was approximately $40,000 from the Spring 2017 until June 2018.
G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Jerald W. Page, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service’s Richmond Field Office, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne. Assistant U.S. Attorney David T. Maguire prosecuted the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information are located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:18-cr-09.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
