Lesley Lucchese, Bank Fraud, New York, 2024

Lesley Lucchese, a 54-year-old New York City resident, has pleaded guilty to her role in a nationwide bank fraud conspiracy that targeted credit unions across the country. Lucchese, who was arrested in Florida in 2022, admitted to fraudulently withdrawing funds from credit unions while acting as a runner for the conspiracy. The scheme, which began in December 2021, utilized a shared branching network that allowed customers to withdraw funds from other member credit unions by presenting identification with their photograph, account number, and Social Security number.

Lucchese and her co-conspirator, Danielle Cappetti, 45, of New York City, each admitted to withdrawing nearly $500,000 from credit unions, with the majority of the funds going to supervisors in the conspiracy. The women created fake identifications in the names of real credit union customers, but with photographs of themselves, and conducted fraudulent transactions at shared branch member credit unions across the country in exchange for drugs or a small portion of the stolen funds.

Cappetti pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud on August 5, 2024, and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 5, 2024. Lucchese pleaded guilty today and is scheduled to be sentenced on December 17, 2024. Both defendants face up to 30 years in prison, a term of supervised release of up to 5 years, and a fine of up to $1 million. They will also be ordered to pay restitution to victims of their offenses.

The pleas of Lucchese and Cappetti resolve the charges against them in a federal indictment returned last December, which allegedly involves more than $1 million in total losses. Five defendants have now pleaded guilty in connection with the indictment. The investigation is ongoing and is being led by the FBI Albany Field Office with assistance from other law enforcement agencies.

As part of her plea, Lucchese agreed to forfeit $9,512.67 in U.S. currency seized by the Escambia County and Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Offices in Florida in October 2022. The money was seized when Lucchese was arrested with co-defendants David Daniyan and Akeem Balogun after traveling to Florida to conduct fraudulent withdrawals.

The indictment also charges other defendants, including Oluwaseun Adekoya, David Daniyan, Akeem Balogun, Gaysha Kennedy, Victor Barriera, and Jerjuan Joyner, with various crimes related to the conspiracy. As with the others who have pleaded guilty, these defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

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