Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General | https://www.justice.gov/
Merrick B. Garland, Attorney General | https://www.justice.gov/
A man from Bronx, New York, has admitted to his involvement in a conspiracy aimed at defrauding banks across ten states. The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom. Paul Keenan, aged 54, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and is scheduled for sentencing on May 27, 2025. The sentence will be determined by a federal district judge who will consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Court documents reveal that Keenan collaborated with others in the conspiracy to recruit individuals and gather their photographs and personal identifying information (PII). This information was used to create fraudulent IDs featuring the conspirators' photographs alongside the recruits' PII.
The group obtained PII from at least 28 individuals, including names, dates of birth, addresses, Social Security numbers, and bank account details. They also gathered information from at least 20 business entities such as business names and banking data.
Keenan and his associates used this information to forge IDs and checks. They traveled with recruits to banks in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and eight other states to cash these checks.
The scheme aimed to defraud banks of approximately $143,000. It successfully defrauded twenty-two banks of about $93,200.
Assistant United States Attorney Christine Lowell is prosecuting the case with assistance from Assistant United States Attorney Sandra Hebert. The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and the East Providence Police Department with help from the Portsmouth Police Department.
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