Federal grand jury indicts Fairbanks men with 31 federal charges
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) - On Monday, a federal grand jury indicted two men from Fairbanks with 31 federal charges including conspiracy, bank and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering.
According to court documents, Jared Post, 25, and Levi Skulstad, 26, scammed and defrauded multiple banks and vulnerable victims while obtaining over $500,000 between 2017 and 2021.
Post and Skulstad would contact victims and have them share their bank account information under the deception that they needed to deposit a check into their accounts. Post and Skulstad would then offer those victims a portion of the deposited check in return for use of their bank account.
The checks that Post and Skulstad deposited were actually stolen and illegally altered checks.
Once a check was posted, Post or Skulstead would log into the account and withdraw or transfer the money or have the victim transfer the money to them via Cash App or Western Union before the bank flagged the check as fraudulent.
The end result is the bank, the victim, and the person who the check was stolen from would be left paying the loss and overdraft fees while Post and Skulstad made off with the cash.
According to the Department of Justice, Post and Skulstad each face a maximum 30-year prison sentence if convicted on the most serious indictment count, and a mandatory two years sentence for each count of aggravated identity theft. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
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