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Diape Seck was found guilty after he was accused of the extensive scheme he helped run from 2019 until 2020, according to the Department of Justice.
According to the evidence, Seck, along with at least eight other people, stole nearly $2 million by pocketing checks from the mail of churches and religious institutions from at least Jan. 2019 thorough Jan. 2020.
A customer service representative with one of the banks, Seck conspired with Mateus Vaduva, Marius Vaduva, Vlad Baceanu, Nicolae Gindac, Florin Vaduva, Marian Unguru, Daniel Velcu, Vali Unguru, and others to commit fraudulently opened bank accounts in fake identities in exchange for cash bribes, prosecutors said.
The group together would steal and deposit checks from the incoming and outgoing mail of churches and other religious institutions into fraudulently opened bank accounts.
Seck's job at the bank allowed him to open hundreds of fraudulent bank accounts for the group in exchange for money, according to officials. Seck would frequently open the accounts without the co-conspirators' presence at the bank or verifying identity information.
Seck opened the accounts at the same time he was conducting legitimate bank activities, they noted.
Seck reportedly violated numerous bank policies and opened 412 checking accounts in the one-year period, relying on predominately purported Romanian passports and driver's license information.
According to federal officials, Checks from several churches around the country were then deposited into the accounts, which were not opened in the names of the churches.
Most of the checks were deposited into accounts through ATMs, which were then used to make cash withdrawals from debit cards attached to the fraudulent accounts.
Seck faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison when he is sentenced in June.
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