Ameer Clark, 34, of Atlanta, Georgia, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in federal court in Buffalo. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo. Clark faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul E. Bonanno and Sasha Mascarenhas, Clark and his co-conspirators—Lorenzo Jones, Quentavious Price, Montez White, and others—engaged in a scheme from January to September 2022 targeting financial institutions. The group traveled from Atlanta to the Western District of New York where they stole genuine checks from businesses. They then used these checks to create fraudulent ones drawn on the same business accounts.
The conspirators recruited individuals to cash the fraudulent checks at local banks. To help disguise these individuals as legitimate customers, they were dressed as construction workers or laborers before being driven to various area financial institutions with instructions to cash the checks. Those who successfully cashed the checks received small payments for their participation.
In January 2022, Price, Jones, and two others flew from Atlanta to Buffalo and attempted to cash fraudulent checks at KeyBank branches using accounts belonging to businesses based in Elma and Tonawanda, New York.
In March 2022, Price and two others returned to Buffalo with three individuals who attempted similar transactions at M&T Bank branches as well as Bank on Buffalo and Evans Bank branches using business accounts from Tonawanda, Clarence, and Sanborn.
By September 2022, Clark joined Price, Jones, and White in flying from Atlanta to Rochester where they transported six individuals around Rochester-area banks—including M&T Bank branches—and other local banks attempting more fraudulent transactions with business accounts based in Rochester and Alden.
The total loss resulting from this scheme is calculated at $64,979.67.
Co-conspirators Lorenzo Jones and Quentavious Price have already been convicted; charges against Montez White are still pending.
Homeland Security Investigations led the investigation alongside the New York State Police.
Sentencing for Clark is scheduled for January 5, 2026 before Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo.
