Seven Men Arrested for Running Bank Fraud Scheme

arrested seven men on Wednesday for operating a bank fraud scheme between Stamford and Baltimore, according to Lt. Diedrich Hohn.

At 1 p.m., an officer was approached by a resident who said that he was offered $100 to open a bank account by men driving in a black Cadillac Escalade with out-of-town plates, Hohn told Patch. Officers later found the vehicle on Bedford Street and detained the five men inside.

The officers, according to Hohn, found "several mechanisms of bank fraud" inside the car, including several statements from newly opened bank accounts and ATM cards. A check that made out to one of the men was also found and deemed counterfeit. Two other men that were seen driving in the vehicle were later detained on Atlantic Street in front of the Palace Theater.

Police believe that three of the men — David Jones, 49, of 5133 Wright Street and Douglas Thornton, 54, of 4626 Park Heights in Baltimore and Horace Kelly, 40, of 111 North Highland Drive, Shrewsbury, PA — have been traveling up to Stamford and recruiting local residents to open fake bank accounts and deposit counterfeit checks, according to Hohn. Then the suspects would withdraw money using the ATM cards associated with those accounts.

"The banks would clear the checks because they have the correct routing number on them," Hohn told Patch. "And [the banks] don't get alerted [of the fraud] for up to 30 days because the checks are written in small amounts — $1,200 [each] on average."

The four remaining suspects are local residents: Isaac Bryant, 57, of 597 Pacific Street, Vincent Calderon of 108 Lockwood Ave, and Norman Lloyd of 62 Durant Street in Stamford and LaMonte Corey, 40, of 575 Maple Street in Bridgeport.

Hohn added that police believe Jones, Kelly and Thornton were mostly recruiting people from a downtown food bank. Each of the men arrested, Hohn said, have a criminal history that ranges from attempted murder and assault to narcotics possession and fraud.

Each suspect has been charged with second-degree forgery, conspiracy to commit second-degree forgery, conspiracy to commit third-degree forgery, attempted larceny in the fourth degree and conspiracy to commit fourth-degree larceny. A $50,000 bond was set for Jones, Kelly and Thornton, while a $20,000 bond was set for Bryant, Calderon, Corey and Lloyd.

Other Arrests

John Konalchyk, 63, of 283 Shippan Ave., Stamford, was arrested on March 28 at 10:00 a.m. and charged with failure to pay or plead to an infraction.

Erik Preyer, 20, of 16 Wilson St., Stamford, was arrested on March 28 at 10:00 a.m. and charged with disorderly conduct.

Laron Webster, 35, of 77 Richmond Hill Ave., Stamford, was arrested on March 29 at 5:10 a.m. and chargd with failure to appear in court in the first-degree.