iStock illustration

A Milton man pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to taking part in schemes to use false identification and take funds from bank customers, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.

Fesnel Lafortune, 30, admitted to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Lafortune had been charged in June 2019.

According to the statement, a co-conspirator, who has not been indicted, obtained two bank checks in April 2017 totaling more than $340,000 from a Santander Bank customer’s account. A fraudulent passport and credit card in the customer’s name were used in the scheme. Lafortune deposited one of these checks for $175,500 into a business bank account he had opened using a false name, date of birth and Social Security number. Within days of depositing the check, Lafortune withdrew nearly $30,000 in cash in three transactions at three different bank branches.

LaFortune then opened two more business bank accounts using false identification for a real person in June 2017. Other co-conspirators wired more than $200,000 into these accounts. LaFortune withdrew about $165,000 from those accounts in cash and checks. The loss to banks totaled about $200,000, according to the statement.

The charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud carries a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. The charge of aggravated identity theft has a two-year mandatory minimum sentence, one year of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 18, 2020.