Shannell Griggs of Syracuse, NY, “used the bank’s computerized account and customer service systems to access and take over the victim’s bank accounts,” Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo said Friday.
She and Givonni Butler of Passaic then stole the deceased’s money “through a combination of illicit debit card purchases, cash withdrawals, wire transfers, and cashier check purchases,” Calo said.
The executor alerted members of the prosecutor’s Financial Crimes Unit, who zeroed in on the couple, he said.
Griggs was arrested on a Bergen County warrant last week in Syracuse and charged with computer-related theft, impersonation, theft by deception and financial facilitation of criminal activity. She remained held there Friday pending extradition, Calo said.
A warrant for Butler was issued, as well.
It became a detainer when authorities found him serving a prison sentence in Dallas, Pennsylvania in connection with a 2016 traffic stop during which police there found a half-pound of cocaine in his car.
Butler is charged with receiving stolen property and conspiracy to commit computer theft.
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