Junaidu Saljan Savage, Bank Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft, La…

In a stunning blow to financial crime, Junaidu Saljan Savage, a/k/a James Kamara, age 30, of Lanham, Maryland, has been sentenced to 87 months in prison for conspiring to commit bank fraud and for aggravated identity theft arising from a scheme to defraud a bank by using account holders’ personal information to take over their accounts.

On October 14, 2016, U.S. District Judge George L. Russell III handed down the sentence, which includes five years of supervised release. Judge Russell also ordered Savage to pay restitution of $36,400. A federal jury convicted Savage on March 15, 2016, of the crimes that have left a trail of financial devastation in their wake.

The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Postal Inspector in Charge Terrence P. McKeown of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service – Washington Division; Special Agent in Charge Brian Ebert of the United States Secret Service – Washington Field Office; and Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County Police Department. The investigation and prosecution of this case are a testament to the collaborative efforts of law enforcement agencies to combat financial crimes.

According to testimony at his six-day trial, from January 1, 2012 through April 2012, Savage conspired with Jayad Zainab Ester Conteh, Paul Anthony Williams and others to defraud a bank. Conteh, a bank teller, looked up bank account holder information on the computer system without authorization and disclosed the account holders’ personal identifying information to Savage and other co-conspirators. Using that information, Savage would call the bank pretending to be the account holder, change certain account information and order checks on the compromised account to be delivered by overnight mail.

Savage and other co-conspirators would obtain those checks, including by intercepting the checks upon delivery at the actual account holders’ addresses. Wilson cashed the checks at bank branches in Maryland. Trial evidence showed that as a result of the conspiracy at least seven bank account holders’ accounts were improperly accessed, with intended losses of more than $120,000.

Jayad Zainab Ester Conteh, age 24, of Glenarden, Maryland, was convicted after trial and sentenced to 64 months in prison for conspiring to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and unauthorized access to a computer to obtain banking information. Judge Russell also entered an order that Conteh pay $36,400 in restitution to the victim bank and forfeit $36,400. Co-conspirator Paul Anthony Wilson, a/k/a Anthony Johnson, age 53, of Washington, D.C., was arrested while attempting to cash a check on the account of one of the victims. Wilson pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy and was sentenced to 39 months in prison.

The announcement of Savage’s sentence is part of the efforts undertaken in connection with the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force was established to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices, and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud.