Federal investigators said 19 people used the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi’s FireKeepers Casino in Battle Creek, Michigan plus local ATMs and bank branches to steal 0,000 from Bank of America in 2015 under a scheme called cracking cards. The suspects were indicted in U.S. District Court on charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and executing a scheme to defraud Bank of America. Acting U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge said the suspects, from Michigan, Illinois and Georgia, could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison if convicted.
The 28-count indictment alleges the group conspired in November-December 2015 to open accounts at Bank of America and deposit fraudulent checks into the accounts. They then used debit cards to make 18 cash advances at the FireKeepers Casino before the bank determined the deposited checks were fraudulent, resulting in more than $200,000 in losses, Birge said.
The FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service inspected the case with assistance by the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Tribal Police Department. Birge said defendants are being arrested by the FBI and Postal Inspectors with the assistance of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety and several state law enforcement officers assigned to the FBI’s Grand Rapids Violent Crime and Fugitive Task Force, the Muskegon Safe Streets Task Force, and the St. Joseph Violent Crime Task Force.
