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September 30, 2021

Woman Sentenced in Connection with Scheme Involving Stolen Federal Tax Refund Checks

On July 8, 2021, in the Southern District of New York, a judgment in a criminal case was filed on Raysette Mercedes for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Mercedes conspired in a scheme that involved the theft of U.S. Treasury checks, to include tax refund checks. On August 26, 2019, Mercedes was charged in a three-count indictment: conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

According to the court documents, from at least in or about December 2017, up to and including at least in or about February 2019, Mercedes, coconspirators, and others known and unknown, willfully and knowingly executed a scheme to defraud financial institutions. The scheme to defraud was discovered when a financial institution identified a pattern of suspicious activity in multiple accounts. Specifically, U.S. Treasury checks, including tax refund and Social Security checks, were stolen before reaching their intended recipient. Mercedes and coconspirators opened fraudulent bank accounts at financial institutions in the names of the intended recipients of the stolen checks. Although the bank accounts were in other people's names, Mercedes used an email address that included her own name to monitor the fraudulent bank accounts. These accounts were opened with apparently fraudulent Dominican Republic identification documents, such as passports, consular cards, and drivers' licenses.

Mercedes and coconspirators forged signatures to endorse the stolen checks, deposited these checks into fraudulent accounts, then made cash withdrawals to access the stolen funds. Mercedes is believed to have accessed bank accounts that held approximately $262,000. In total, Mercedes and coconspirators are believed to have accessed bank accounts that held approximately $822,000 in U.S. Treasury checks.

Mercedes was sentenced to time served, four years of supervised release, ordered to pay $142,634 in restitution, and a $100 assessment fee.

    Source:  The facts in this case narrative come from the following publicly available documents: S.D.N.Y. Crim. Compl., filed July 30, 2019; S.D.N.Y. Indict., filed August 26, 2019; S.D.N.Y. Sentencing Recommend., filed July 2, 2021; S.D.N.Y. J., filed July 19, 2021.