Cory Jermaine White, Jr., a 31-year-old resident of Goodyear, Arizona, was sentenced to 108 months in prison by United States District Judge Michael T. Liburdi on July 16. White was also ordered to pay $8,446,858.31 in restitution after pleading guilty to conspiracies involving bank and wire fraud and money laundering on December 10, 2024. Six co-defendants in the case have already been sentenced.
"White stole nearly $8.5 million in checks meant for legitimate businesses and used the money for lavish expenditures," stated U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine. "His actions not only impacted the victims but also undermined the integrity of our financial systems."
FBI Phoenix Special Agent in Charge Heith Janke commented on the crime's audacity: "The fact this defendant and his co-conspirators would think that stealing business checks from the U.S. Mail and scheming ways to deposit them for their own use is mind-boggling."
Court documents reveal that White's scheme involved multiple steps executed over several years. Co-conspirators stole mail containing legitimate business checks and created sham entities with names matching those businesses. They opened corporate bank accounts under these fake entities to deposit stolen checks before quickly liquidating and distributing funds among themselves.
The FBI Phoenix Division conducted the investigation with Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin M. Rapp handling prosecution duties.
For further information about this case or other activities by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona, visit their official website or follow them on Twitter @USAO_AZ.