PROVIDENCE – A city man was sentenced to five years in federal prison for his role in a counterfeit check and bank fraud scheme, U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha announced Monday.
Terrance Richardson, 30, pleaded guilty on March 24 to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and twelve counts of bank fraud. U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. sentenced Richardson to 60 months in federal prison to be followed by three years of federal supervised release. Richardson was ordered to pay restitution to banks totaling nearly $83,300.
Richardson was one of four of defendants indicted on Nov. 22, 2021, for participating in a scheme to defraud banks for roughly one year beginning in April 2020. Prosecutors alleged that Richardson obtained and stole checks and bank account information belonging to businesses and individuals and used the information to create counterfeit checks.
The indictment claimed that Richardson gained the help of Machaela Farias of Providence, an employee at Santander Bank, to facilitate the deposit of the counterfeit checks. Prosecutors said that Richardson and others obtained debit card information of individuals who agreed to be compensated for allowing counterfeit checks to be deposited into their bank accounts. Then, Richardson, Farias, Johanna Arias of Providence, Jordan Robertson of Providence and others would quickly withdraw the funds from the accounts.
All four were charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Additionally, the indictment charged Richards, Maenza and Rosler with 12 counts of bank fraud and Richard Koboi with 12 counts of bank fraud and one count each of aggravated identity theft and felon in possession of a firearm.
The scheme is alleged to have included the depositing of $165,154 in counterfeit checks and the withdrawal of at least $89,453 in cash.
Another seven defendants are alleged to have participated in an unrelated scheme to defraud banks for 14 months starting in January 2020.
