FRESNO, Calif. — A brazen bank fraud scheme that saw participants recruited on Facebook has been brought to light, with six defendants facing charges in connection with the massive scam. At the center of the operation is Abreiana Rogers, 29, of Los Angeles, who made an initial appearance in federal court in Fresno Thursday.
Rogers is charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, along with four counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Five co-defendants, including Fresno residents Nyric Hinton, 26; Zion Brewer, 39; Zorian Temple, 23; Davonntae Barfield, 30; and Harry Cooper Neal, 29, made their initial appearances in November 2024. All six defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
According to court documents, between April 2022 and Jan. 31, 2023, the defendants used Facebook and Facebook Messenger to recruit bank account holders, promising them a cut of any fraudulent funds deposited into their accounts. The defendants then used those individuals’ bank accounts to deposit stolen and fraudulent checks. Brewer, a U.S. Postal Service employee, assisted by stealing mail containing checks and other financial information, and by providing that information to his co-conspirators.
The scheme involved depositing stolen and fraudulent checks into bank accounts, which were then rapidly depleted using electronic transfers and cash withdrawals. The defendants shared the proceeds among themselves and other co-conspirators, using information about known weaknesses in financial institutions’ fraud protection systems to circumvent detection.
To conceal the fraud, the defendants instructed account holders to claim that their accounts had been compromised if contacted by the financial institutions about the fraudulent deposits. The defendants are alleged to have attempted at least $1 million in fraudulent transactions with financial institutions, fraudulently used over 100 bank accounts, and obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars from the financial institutions.
The case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and the Fresno Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey A. Spivak is prosecuting the case. The case is set for a status conference on June 4, 2025.
If convicted, the defendants face a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for conspiracy to commit bank fraud and for any count of bank fraud. Rogers also faces a two-year mandatory consecutive prison sentence for aggravated identity theft if convicted.
The charges are only allegations; the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The scheme’s scope and brazen nature have left many in the community shaken, and authorities are warning of the dangers of online scams and the importance of remaining vigilant in the face of financial predators.
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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