Man accused in fraud scheme ripped up $1 million check in front of police, feds say
A 24-year-old Chicago man accused of playing a role in a multi-state bank fraud scheme that involved stolen identities and a six-figure U.S. Treasury check has been sentenced to prison, federal prosecutors said.
Dyonte Scott was sentenced Dec. 6 to five years and five months behind bars, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana said in a news release.
His prison time will be followed by three years of supervised release, officials said.
Scott’s attorney didn’t immediately respond to a Dec. 9 request for comment from McClatchy News.
Scott was arrested in January in Montana after officials said another man — Lorenzo Botello, of Las Vegas — was nabbed at a Bozeman credit union with documents that were “fraudulently using the identity of a person identified as John Doe,” according to prosecutors. Botello previously had tried to use similar documents to open a business account at a different Bozeman credit union, officials said.
Officials found text messages showing that Scott was instructing Botello on “how to lie to the financial institutions to perpetuate a U.S. Treasury check scheme,” prosecutors said. Officials said Scott “directed Botello on what to say, what documents to use, what email addresses to provide and the bank location to target.”
After the accounts were opened, Scott and Botello planned to return “to deposit a real, but stolen, U.S. Treasury check totaling almost $1 million,” prosecutors said.
Police found Scott in a Bozeman hotel room before that could happen, officials said.
Scott wouldn’t identify himself and “immediately got his cell phone out and began texting,” according to court documents.
At one point, Scott grabbed “what appeared to be an envelope” and started ripping it up, officials said. It later was determined to be a stolen Treasury check for about $949,391, according to prosecutors.
Botello was sentenced to 16 months behind bars in October, prosecutors said. His attorney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
In court documents, officials touched on a broader investigation into Treasury check schemes that appear to involve a similar set-up. The schemes “are far-reaching, involve tens of millions of dollars, and involve highly-coordinated efforts of organized criminal groups,” with stolen Treasury checks being distributed throughout the country and “eventually put into the hands of runners (or mules)” who try to open business accounts where the checks eventually can be deposited, officials said.
In a statement, Tom Demeo, acting special agent in charge for the IRS Criminal Investigation’s Denver Field Office, said Scott’s and Botello’s sentencing “should serve as a resounding message to others who attempt to steal from the federal government.”
This story was originally published December 10, 2024 at 9:27 AM with the headline "Man accused in fraud scheme ripped up $1 million check in front of police, feds say."
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