A Jersey City man pleaded guilty to using fake passports to facilitate a $450,000 bank fraud conspiracy that lasted for six-and-a-half years, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachel Honig announced.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Mamadou Diallo, 44, of Jersey City, pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden to an information charging him with one count of bank fraud conspiracy and one count of false use of a passport.
From June 2012 through December 2018, Diallo and others conspired to fraudulently obtain money from four victim banks.
Diallo and his conspirators created false passports from various West African countries by affixing their own pictures onto passports bearing names other than their own.
They opened fraudulent bank accounts at the victim banks using the doctored passports as photo identification. The conspirators deposited fraudulent checks bearing the routing number for the U.S. Treasury.
Once the fraudulent checks were deposited, the conspirators withdrew the funds. To date, the losses associated with the conspiracy exceed $450,000.
The conspiracy to commit bank fraud charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greater.
The passport fraud charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 15 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for October 13th.
