Evergreen Reporter

Elijah D. Brown, 24, has been sentenced to 63 months in prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud, as announced by Acting United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook. The sentence will run consecutively with a 42-month federal prison term he is already serving for illegal possession of a machine gun, totaling 105 months. Additionally, Brown must pay restitution of $1,254,790.

In April 2024, a federal grand jury indicted 21 defendants in connection with a bank fraud case in Shreveport. All have entered guilty pleas or pretrial diversion agreements.

Among the defendants are Destane Glass and Sharmaine Jackson from Shreveport who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and await sentencing later this year. Others include ZarRajah Z. Watkins and Arazhia R. Gully who also admitted guilt with upcoming sentencing dates.

Several defendants have received sentences: Olivia M. Deboe was given three years of supervised probation and ordered to pay $34,261.81 in restitution; Shamaya S. Pouncy was sentenced to nine months in prison plus $9,317.50 in restitution; Donte N. Larrimore and Precious Wilbert received three years of supervised probation each.

The fraudulent activities began in January 2021 and continued until October 31, 2022. The defendants conspired against financial institutions such as USAA Savings Bank, Navy Federal Credit Union, JP Morgan Chase Bank, Barksdale Federal Credit Union, and Bank of America.

Arazhiah Gully, Maya Green, and ZarRajah Watkins were employed at Teleperformance's call center for USAA Bank in Shreveport where they accessed customer information unlawfully used for creating counterfeit checks exceeding $4 million.

Glass recruited individuals via social media to deposit these counterfeit checks into their accounts before withdrawing funds through various means including casinos and ATMs.

Acting U.S Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook commented on the scheme saying it "shamelessly targeted vulnerable elderly victims." He advised regular account monitoring for suspicious activity reporting immediately if found.

The investigation involved multiple agencies including the United States Secret Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation under the prosecution led by Acting U.S Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook.