A septuagenarian is facing months in prison after admitting to stealing more than $1 million from the US government.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 71-year-old Eric Banks has pleaded guilty to stealing a check drawn by the US Treasury Department to a New York-based business.
The DOJ says Banks stole a U.S. Treasury check worth approximately $1.13 million. He then opened a bank account in the name of the New York firm the check was drawn to and deposited the check to the account.
And that was just the beginning.
“Banks then conducted multiple illegal money transactions designed to conceal the source of the funds from the stolen Treasury check.”
Banks also helped seven other individuals launder money that was also stolen from the US government.
“In addition, Banks created a second fake entity and opened a bank account in the name of this second fake entity. Other individuals who obtained and deposited stolen U.S. Treasury checks transferred over $1.3 million to this bank account created by Banks.”
The seven individuals that Banks helped launder money for are facing separate charges of collectively stealing approximately $7.44 million in US government funds.
Besides the 14 months that Banks will spend in prison, he will also undergo three years of supervised release.
Follow us on X, Facebook and Telegram
Don’t Miss a Beat – Subscribe to get email alerts delivered directly to your inbox
Check Price Action
Surf The Daily Hodl Mix
Generated Image: Midjourney
