BOSTON – A Chicago woman was sentenced today in federal
court in Worcester for her role in a fraudulent airplane loan scheme.
Latoya Monique James, 38, was sentenced by U.S. District
Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman to time served (approximately one week) and
three years of supervised release, with the first year to be served in home
confinement. In March 2017, James pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to
commit bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. James
and two co-conspirators, Ryan Miller and Dusten James Miller, were indicted in
June 2016.
From March 2013 through March 2016, the Miller brothers
engaged in a scheme to defraud banks by obtaining loans purportedly to finance
the purchase of recreational airplanes.
Using stolen identities, the brothers posed as both the buyers and the
sellers of airplanes; they submitted fraudulent loan applications to the banks
and provided the banks with false and fraudulent documents in support of those
applications, including false tax returns, bank statements, driver’s licenses,
and Social Security cards.
Once the loans were approved, the brothers arranged for the
loan documents to be sent either electronically to an email address they
created or to a physical address they rented. The Millers signed and notarized
the loan documents—either using fake licenses as identification or forged
notary stamps. The brothers instructed the banks to wire the funds to bank
accounts opened at various banks in the name of fraudulent companies that the brothers
had incorporated. Once the funds were wired to those accounts, the brothers
quickly withdrew the stolen funds, and used those funds, in part, to rent
high-end residences in the United States and Dominican Republic and to purchase
expensive vehicles, jewelry and other luxury items.
James was engaged in a relationship with Dusten James Miller
throughout much of the relevant period. James participated in the conspiracies
to defraud the banks and launder the stolen funds by impersonating an
individual whose identity had been stolen, by opening multiple bank accounts
into which the stolen funds were wired, and by contacting banks to inquire
about financing and/or the loan application process.
In February 2018, a federal jury convicted the Miller brothers
of one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to
commit money laundering, and one count of conspiracy to commit identity theft.
Ryan Miller was also convicted of one count of bank fraud, one count of money
laundering, and one count of aggravated identity theft. In June 2018, Ryan
Miller was sentenced to 15 years in prison and Dusten James Miller was
sentenced to 12 years in prison.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw,
Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field
Division; and Thomas J. Ullom, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Regional
Office, U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General, made
the announcement. Assistant U.S.
Attorneys Karin M. Bell and Greg A. Friedholm of Lelling’s Worcester Branch
Office prosecuted the case.
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