Alexander Varice, Nasheed Jackson, and Dashawn Duncan, Bank Fraud, New Jersey 2021

NEWARK, N.J. – In a brazen scheme, three Essex County, New Jersey, men admitted to defrauding two banks of over $250,000 using stolen credit cards and blank checks.

Alexander Varice, 22, and Dashawn Duncan, 27, both of South Orange, New Jersey, and Nasheed Jackson, 24, of Newark; of South Orange, New Jersey, pleaded guilty this week by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton to informations charging each of them with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, the three men engaged in a scheme to use stolen credit cards or checks to fraudulently make purchases and withdraw money from two banks. The credit cards were stolen from facilities used by the U.S. Postal Service in Pine Brook and Warren, New Jersey, and never reached the intended cardholders.

Varice, Jackson, and Duncan used the stolen cards to make unauthorized purchases at various retail stores and to withdraw cash from automated teller machines (ATMs) in New Jersey and elsewhere. The blank checks were also stolen from various New Jersey-based post office facilities, and never reached their intended recipients.

The men altered the date, payee, and amount of the stolen checks prior to deposit into a third-party account so that they could manually enter the amounts that they wanted to fraudulently withdraw from a victim bank ATM.

The charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of $1 million.

Sentencing is scheduled as follows: Varice, July 13, 2021; Jackson, July 14, 2021; and Duncan, July 19, 2021.

Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig credited inspectors of the U.S. States Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Acting Inspector in Charge Raimundo Marrero in Newark, with the investigation leading to the guilty pleas.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Blake Coppotelli of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.

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