BOSTON – A brazen $4 million bank fraud conspiracy unraveled today with the guilty plea of Charles Washington, 44, of Dorchester. Washington, the alleged mastermind, admitted to orchestrating a scheme that siphoned funds from unsuspecting bank customers and utilized phantom businesses to launder the stolen money.
According to federal prosecutors, Washington wasn’t lifting cash from ATMs. This was a sophisticated operation. He allegedly obtained sensitive bank account information, including personally identifiable data and signature samples, targeting customers with substantial balances. He then recruited a network of “runners” to impersonate these account holders at various bank branches, making unauthorized withdrawals. To facilitate this deception, Washington supplied the runners with fake driver’s licenses – photos of the runners superimposed with the stolen personal information of the actual account holders. He even provided instruction on forging the victims’ signatures.
But the fraud didn’t stop at direct withdrawals. Washington and his associates also established “drop accounts” under the guise of legitimate businesses. These “shell businesses” – registered as title companies, property management firms, and contractors – were designed to receive large wire transfers without raising immediate red flags. Co-conspirators then funneled unlawfully obtained funds into these accounts, amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Washington and his runners would then swoop in, withdrawing the funds in cash, checks, or further wire transfers to yet more drop accounts, all before the victims even knew their accounts had been compromised.
The scope of the fraud is staggering. Investigators say Washington and his crew gained unauthorized access to roughly $4 million, successfully managing to withdraw approximately $2 million before being caught. The scheme involved multiple branches, multiple accounts, and a calculated attempt to evade detection. The U.S. Secret Service, working alongside the FBI, Postal Inspection Service, and Boston Police, pieced together the complex network of fraud.
Washington pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud conspiracy and four counts of bank fraud. U.S. Senior District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf has scheduled sentencing for November 2, 2017. He faces a potential sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release, a $1 million fine, and mandatory restitution to the victims. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth B. Kosto of the Cybercrime Unit.
The announcement of Washington’s guilty plea was made jointly by Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb, Harold H. Shaw of the FBI, Stephen A. Marks of the U.S. Secret Service, Shelly Binkowski of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Boston Police Commissioner William Evans. This is yet another example of the relentless pursuit of financial criminals by federal law enforcement agencies working in concert.
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Key Facts
- Agency: U.S. Secret Service
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Press Release
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