On October 4, 2021 a federal indictment in Charlotte, NC charged Yanalise Hodge, 22, Terrell Freeman, 34, and Joshua Monteith, 31, in an alleged mail theft and bank fraud scheme, in which more than $2 million in stolen business checks were deposited into straw bank accounts.
Prosecutors say in November 2020 that the suspects engaged in a bank fraud scheme involving stolen mail. Business checks and other mail from U.S. Postal Service collection boxes and business mailboxes were stolen in Charlotte and elsewhere.
The suspects allegedly cashed the stolen checks using fraudulent identifications and straw bank accounts before the victim banks detected the fraud. The fraud scheme was executed in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia, according to prosecutors.
The suspects also allegedly defrauded at least seven banks. The total face value of the business checks stolen in the scheme was over $2 million.
The suspects are each charged with one count of bank fraud conspiracy and multiple individual counts of bank fraud, which carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
Terrell and Yanalise are also charged with aggravated identity theft.
