FRESNO, Calif. - Ramon Armendariz Jr., 35, of Bakersfield, was sentenced today to four years and nine months in prison for wire fraud, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, Armendariz unlawfully obtained personally identifiable information and bank account information of a victim, which he used to open a brokerage account in the victim’s name. Armendariz used the personal bank accounts to fund the brokerage account. Armendariz listed himself as an authorized check writer on the brokerage account in order to access the funds when the transfers to the brokerage account were completed. Armendariz’s scheme unraveled when the victim discovered the unauthorized transfers and notified the bank, resulting in a freeze of the funds in the brokerage account.
This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexandre Dempsey prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys