Sobeida Maria Laboy, Bank Fraud, Maryland 2023

Germantown Woman Sentenced to 27 Months in Federal Prison for Bank Fraud

Greenbelt, Maryland – In a shocking case of financial deceit, Sobeida Maria Laboy, a 47-year-old resident of Germantown, Maryland, was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for bank fraud. The sentence was handed down by United States District Judge Peter J. Messitte on an unspecified date.

According to the charges, Laboy worked in the Chevy Chase branch office of a financial institution that offered online banking services to its customers and had affiliates that offered homes loans and other financial services. Between December 2007 and June 19, 2014, Laboy created fraudulent invoices, which she submitted, along with check requests, for payment by her employer. She forged the signature of another employee in the “approval” section of the form and deposited the checks into her personal bank accounts.

Over the course of the scheme, Laboy deposited at least 60 checks issued by her employer and made payable to the vendor, as well as six additional checks either issued by her employer and made payable to other vendors, or issued by other vendors and made payable to her employer. As a result of the scheme, Laboy fraudulently obtained at least $1,020,576.28.

Laboy was also ordered to pay restitution in the full amount of the loss to the victims. The sentence was announced by Acting United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Stephen M. Schenning and Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The case is part of the efforts undertaken in connection with the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which aims to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in combating fraud and has filed over 18,000 financial fraud cases against more than 25,000 defendants.

Laboy’s sentence marks a significant victory for the prosecution, who commended the FBI for its work in the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lindsay Eyler Kaplan and Nicolas A. Mitchell.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/germantown-woman-sentenced-27-months-federal-prison-defrauding-her-employer-more-1-millon