Deandray Buckley, Bank Fraud and Identity Theft, New Hampshire 2018

A man from Michigan has been sentenced to prison time for his role in a scheme to steal people’s personal identifying information and use it to withdraw money from bank accounts across the country.

Deandray Buckley, 27, of Belleville, Michigan, was sentenced on Monday to 39 months in federal prison for bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. The sentence was handed down in federal court in Concord, New Hampshire.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Buckley was part of an interstate scheme with others to steal people’s personal identifying information, including social security numbers and bank account information. Buckley obtained this identification information from his accomplices and online and then used it to obtain fake driver’s licenses with other people’s identifying information and his or an accomplice’s photograph.

Buckley and an accomplice used the fake driver’s licenses to impersonate bank customers and withdraw or attempt to withdraw money from those bank customers’ accounts. When entering a bank branch, Buckley or an accomplice wore slings on their arms or bandaged their fingers together in case bank tellers asked why the signature on the withdrawal slip did not match the account owners’ signature on file at the bank.

Between October 2017 and February 2018, Buckley or an accomplice entered over 17 bank branches in New Hampshire, Kansas, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Rhode Island and stole or attempted to steal over $90,000 from other people’s bank accounts. On February 27, 2018, Buckley was arrested by the Salem Police Department after attempting to withdraw $6,000 from another person’s bank account at a Citizen’s Bank branch in Salem.

Buckley previously pleaded guilty on March 15, 2019. “Identity theft crimes can have a devastating impact on victims, including financial losses and disruption of their lives,” said U.S. Attorney Scott W. Murray. “The law enforcement community will work to protect citizens from these crimes and to hold identity thieves accountable for their actions. Those who commit these crimes should understand that their conduct will result in federal prison time.”

This matter was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the United States Secret Service, and the Overland Park Kansas Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Hunter from the District of New Hampshire and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Oakley from the District of Kansas.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nh/pr/michigan-man-sentenced-39-months-bank-fraud-and-aggravated-identity-theft