Identity thief sentenced for stealing money from victims’ bank accounts

ATLANTA - Justin Tony Walker has been sentenced to federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for fraudulently accessing bank accounts and transferring more than $1.3 million from financial institutions into accounts held by his co-conspirators.

“Walker was crafty and knew no limits on how far he would go to commit fraud, even while on probation,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak.  “We encourage citizens to regularly monitor their bank statements to ensure their accounts have not been compromised.”

“The FBI treats these types of financial crimes targeting individuals and the banking industry very seriously,” said J. C. “Chris” Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Atlanta Division. “Anyone considering this type of criminal activity should take heed of the punishment imposed in this case.”

According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges and other information presented in court:  From July 2015 to March 2016, Walker ran a scheme to steal money from various financial institutions and their customers’ bank accounts by using fraudulently acquired personal information to impersonate the account holders. 

Walker contacted customer service representatives at financial institutions using the true account holders’ personal information.  He would then acquire additional information on customers’ accounts that he used to either take over existing accounts or create new accounts. Walker then would wire sums of money from these accounts to personal accounts held by his co-conspirators. Through this scheme, Walker defrauded financial institutions of more than $1.3 million.

Since 2007, Walker has been arrested on four separate occasions for various forms of fraud and identity theft, including financial transaction card fraud.  In 2011 and 2015, Walker violated his probation by committing additional acts of fraud and identity theft, and the conduct in this case was in contravention of a previous judicial sentence.

Justin Tony Walker, 29, of Lawrenceville, Georgia was sentenced to seven years in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg on August 24, 2018.  He was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $514,979.56.  Walker pleaded guilty to the charges on May 29, 2018.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Atlanta Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Bernita B. Malloy prosecuted the case.