Michael Griffin, Bank and Wire Fraud, North Carolina 2024

Published September 11, 2020

RALEIGH, NC - Michael Anthony Griffin, Sr., a Raleigh credit repair orchestrator, has been charged with bank and wire fraud, aggravated ID theft, conspiracy, and perjury in a 50-count indictment, along with 11 participants in a massive fraud scheme.

The indictment, unsealed on June 13, 2024, alleges that Griffin operated a credit repair business in Raleigh and Knightdale, accepting fees from clients for alleged credit repair services. However, in reality, Griffin was creating fictitious credit profiles and fraudulently altering client credit data through the use of fictitious police reports.

The indictment further charges that various defendants conspired with Griffin to defraud Synchrony Bank, a Lowe's credit card provider, by opening credit accounts in the name of fraudulent identities, cashing out the accounts through prepaid card purchases, and then defaulting on the credit accounts. Similar frauds were committed against other banks, including Capital One and Discover.

The indictment also alleges that defendants used fraudulent identities, bank statements, pay stubs, and other documents to defraud banks, lenders, merchants, and landlords. In one instance, Griffin is charged with presenting a fraudulent social security card and number to Johnson Automotive to purchase a Hyundai Genesis, a vehicle with a purchase price of more than $72,000.

The indictment charges Griffin and his co-defendants with aggravated identity theft, as many of the fraudulent identities utilized in the scheme involved the use of stolen social security numbers.

Additionally, certain defendants are charged with committing perjury for lying to a federal grand jury. If convicted, the maximum punishment for committing bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud is up to 30 years in prison, while the maximum punishment for wire fraud is up to 20 years in prison. The investigation is ongoing and is being conducted by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation with the assistance of the United States Marshals Service and other agencies.

The defendants charged include:

Michael Anthony Griffin, Sr., 52, of Knightdale, North Carolina

Regina Griffin, 48, of Raleigh, North Carolina

Angela Griffin, 52, of Knightdale, North Carolina

Creshun Alexandria Griffin, 26, of Knightdale, North Carolina

Sharon Annita Edmond, 51, of Raleigh, North Carolina

Katina Griffin Perry, 47, of Raleigh, North Carolina

Harvey Griffin, 46, of Raleigh, North Carolina

Melvin Griffin, 44, of Knightdale, North Carolina

Shawn Allen Farmer, 51, of Cary, North Carolina

Jasmine Mariah Davis, 28, of Lakeland, Florida

Tyrone Edmonds, 46, of Weldon, North Carolina