May 19th 2021 Eight young Americans have been charged in a New York court on Wednesday with stealing $2 million in Coronavirus benefits. They steal other people’s information, transfer money into their personal bank accounts, and then withdraw cash from the bank.
According to the New York Post reported on the 18th, these young people on social media posted pictures of them holding large piles of cash, showing off their ill-gotten gains. Six of the eight defendants, aged between 18 and 25, were charged in federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday, court documents show. Prosecutors say two other suspects are at large: Armani Miller, 24, and John Santos, 19.
Documents and surveillance images show that the suspects had more than 100 debit cards in their names, which they used to make large withdrawals at ATMs in Fratlands and eastern Queens.
Prosecutors said the suspects also carelessly used the same address and phone number during multiple thefts. The scams are understood to have started in June 2020 and continued until April 2021. It was not immediately clear how the suspects stole the victims’ personal information.
