A 58-year-old man from The Bronx was sentenced on April 16 in federal court to three and a half years in prison for defrauding five banks in the Capital Region of New York by using fake identifications to withdraw funds from accounts.

 

U.S. Attorney Carla B. Freedman for the Northern District of New York, and Matthew Scarpino, special agent in charge of the Buffalo field office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), said Antonio Vargas, previously pled guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft charges.

 

They said Vargas admitted that in June and July 2022, he had presented to bank tellers counterfeit U.S. passport cards and driver’s licenses with his photograph on them, but with the names and other personal information of real customers of Trustco Bank, Pioneer Bank, Broadview Federal Credit Union, Adirondack Trust Bank, and Saratoga National Bank and Trust Company.

 

They said Vargas fraudulently withdrew a total of $58,000 from the customers’ accounts in Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady Counties, and had carried out the same fraudulent scheme in Louisiana and Connecticut before coming to New York. They said Vargas was arrested by the Saratoga Springs Police Department on July 13, 2022, after he unsuccessfully attempted to withdraw funds from a Saratoga National Bank branch, and has remained in federal custody since then.

 

The court heard that U.S. District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino ordered that Vargas pay restitution to the banks in the amount of $58,000 and serve a 5-year term of supervised release following his release from prison.

 

According to federal prosecutors, HSI investigated the case with help from the U.S. Secret Service, Diplomatic Security Service, New York State Police, Bethlehem Police Department, North Greenbush Police Department, Rotterdam Police Department, Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office, Saratoga Springs Police Department and Scotia Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emmet O’Hanlon prosecuted the case.