A Green Bay woman was charged in connection to a large-scale fraud scheme, becoming the 13th person to be charged in the scheme that defrauded a local credit union out of nearly $200,000.
Here's what to know about the case.
Who is charged?
Aliya Shaw, 18, of Green Bay.
Twelve other people have previously been charged in connection with the scheme. Deandre Mackontee, 25, of Allouez; Demetrius King Jr., 26, of Green Bay; Brad Porter, 50, of Oneida; Trivian Walton, 25, of Green Bay; Cornelius Steele, 28, of Bellevue; Stacy Swille, 42, of Green Bay; Dion Crawford, 57, of Milwaukee; Shayne Rudolph, 51, of Green Bay; Leona Dixon, 41, of Keshena; Sisely Miller, 28, of Green Bay; Carly Picotte, 43, of Green Bay; and Shaylea Hernandez, 25, of Green Bay.
What are the charges?
Shaw is charged in Brown County with:
Fraud against a financial institution, value $500 to $10,000, as a party to a crime, a felony.
Money laundering - knowingly receive or acquire proceeds $5,000 to $10,000, as a party to a crime, a felony.
What happened?
The Brown County Sheriff's Office investigated a large-scale fraud scheme targeting local credit unions, according to a criminal complaint. Between Oct. 17, 2024, and Nov. 19, 2024, several Fox Communities Credit Union members provided online banking information to scammers posing as representatives of the credit union's fraud team, the complaint said.
According to the complaint, Fox Communities Credit Union lost a total of $192,195.80 after reimbursing victims. Community First Credit Union lost $23,144.45 to the same scam, the complaint said.
After gaining access to a member's account, the scammer would transfer funds to one of 27 suspects identified in the investigation, the complaint said. Once the funds were deposited, the suspects quickly withdrew or moved the money through ATMs, additional transfers or purchases.
Investigators described the scheme as "a coordinated and systematic attack on numerous financial institutions" by "the same criminal enterprise." A large portion of the stolen money was turned over to "leadership within the criminal enterprise," the complaint said.
According to a criminal complaint:
On Oct. 25, 2024, Shaw opened a checking account through FCCU. Between Oct. 29 and Oct. 30, 2024, $7,000 was transferred from a scam victim's account into Shaw's. Between Oct. 31 and Nov. 2, 2024, Shaw withdrew a total of $4,215.11.
What's next?
Shaw was booked into Brown County Jail in June on unrelated drug charges and remains in custody on a $25,000 bail for that case. Shaw is scheduled to make her initial appearance in court Aug. 22.
Vivian Barrett is the public safety reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach her at [email protected] or (920) 431-8314.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Aliya Shaw of Green Bay charged in credit union fraud scheme
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