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Essex County Man Gets 27 Months for $250,000 Bank Fraud Scheme

An Essex County man has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to defraud two banks of $250,000 using stolen credit cards and blank checks, authorities said.

Allen Varice, 25, of East Orange, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Varice and his conspirators used stolen credit cards and blank checks to make unauthorized purchases and withdraw cash from banks, leaving the institutions to bear the losses of the scheme.

The credit cards and blank checks were stolen from various New Jersey-based U.S. Postal Service facilities and never reached their intended recipients. Varice and his conspirators altered the date, payee, and amount of the stolen checks prior to deposit, allowing them to fraudulently withdraw money at various ATMs.

The investigation was led by inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Acting Inspector in Charge Rodney M. Hopkins, Newark Division. Varice was also ordered to pay restitution of $43,364 and serve three years of supervised release.

Varice’s conspirators, Dashawn Duncan, Alexander Varice, Nasheed Jackson, Tamir Duval, and Qshaun Brown-Guinyard, all previously pleaded guilty to charges related to the scheme. Duncan and Jackson were sentenced to two years in prison, while Duval, Alexander Varice, and Brown-Guinyard are awaiting sentencing.

Varice’s sentencing comes as a result of a scheme that lasted from August 2018 through August 2019. The scheme involved using stolen credit cards and blank checks to make unauthorized purchases and withdraw cash from banks, causing losses of $250,000.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Blake Coppotelli of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.