Former credit union employee, 5 other suspects charged with stealing $345K from customer accounts

WESTERN WASHINGTON — Six people were charged in a scheme to steal $345,000 from a Western Washington credit union, U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman announced in a news release Friday.

One of the suspects, 31-year-old Aneicia Ford, is accused of stealing account information while she was working for the credit union. The information was then given to others who took over the accounts and stole funds.

Ford worked as a customer service representative out of her Tacoma home between May and October 2022, helping customers with account issues.

The job allowed her to access customers’ personal information, which she then passed on to Dangelo Roberts, 21, who used it to steal from accounts, the indictment said.

Case documents says Roberts tried to recruit people to access victims’ accounts on social media, where he also advertised that he could make false ID materials.

Others charged in the case are:

• Shanna Carter-Zanders, 42 of Auburn.
• Kohrey Lee Bridges, 22, of Tumwater.
• Anthony McQueen, 36, of Seattle.
• Meghan Frazier, 21, of University Place.

The charges include conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and aggravated identify theft.

Ford is charged in every count in the indictment; all six are charged with conspiracy, and different defendants are charged with individual counts of bank fraud and/or aggravated identity theft.

“Using the stolen account information, the conspirators obtained false IDs and used them to get debit cards and to make withdrawals from the victims’ accounts, often at the credit union’s branches.  After obtaining increases to the ATM withdrawal limits, the conspirators obtained as much as $25,000 in cash.  The conspirators would also spend victims’ funds by ordering cashier’s checks or purchasing postal money orders that they made payable to other conspirators or their associates.  They used their illegal access to transfer money between accounts and check balances on accounts,” a news release from the Justice Department said.

A total of about $345,014 was stolen from the credit union accounts.

Conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud carry a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. Aggravated identity theft is punishable by a mandatory minimum of two years in prison following any other sentence for other charges in the case.

The customers who were victims in the case were reimbursed by the credit union.

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