Federal authorities have charged four individuals alleged to have been involved in a $53 million check fraud scheme. The announcement came from Jay Clayton, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Edward Gallashaw, the Acting Inspector in Charge of the New York Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).
Micheal Pena, Harrington Delahoz, Joshua Gutierrez, and Jaysen Dorsey face charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud, as well as aggravated identity theft. Pena and Gutierrez were apprehended earlier today, with Gutierrez set to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Moses and Pena before U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel C. Irick in Florida. Delahoz and Dorsey remain at large.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton remarked, “As alleged, Micheal Pena and his co-defendants orchestrated a massive, multimillion-dollar scheme to steal innocent victims’ money. The defendants obtained real checks, including from the mail, forged the checks, falsified identities, sold the checks to others, and took advantage of multiple financial institutions."
According to the complaint, from April 2023 to October 2024, the defendants conducted a national scheme to sell over $53 million in stolen checks. Pena reportedly ran a channel called "White House Vibez" on a messaging platform, used to sell checks taken from the U.S. Postal Service. An image posted on the platform allegedly showed stolen mail and checks, advertising a future batch for sale.
The USPIS Acting Inspector in Charge, Edward Gallashaw, stated, "These individuals allegedly devised a scheme to steal checks from the U.S. Mail and then, in some cases, sell the personal identifiable information on these stolen checks via an encrypted messaging platform to colluding individuals."
The scheme involved altering checks to change the payee and amount before depositing them into various financial institutions, with some advertising large cash withdrawals on the platform.
The defendants face lengthy prison sentences if convicted, with conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud carrying a maximum sentence of 30 years, and aggravated identity theft a minimum of two years.
USPIS was praised for its investigative work, and the case is managed by the General Crimes Unit with Assistant U.S. Attorney Varun A. Gumaste leading the prosecution.
The charges remain accusations at this stage, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
