PORTLAND, Maine — A New York City man wanted in Philadelphia in connection with an alleged $1.4 million bank fraud conspiracy appeared Tuesday in U.S. District Court.
Shawn Hilliard, 30, pleaded not guilty in May in federal court in Philadelphia to conspiracy, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft, according to court documents.
Hilliard, who has used the aliases “Buggz,” “Boogz,” “Rick” and “Beloved,” was indicted by a federal grand jury in May along with four other people.
He is accused of being the mastermind behind an identity theft ring that between January 2011 and August 2014 obtained personal information, including dates of birth, Social Security numbers, account numbers, account passwords and security codes, from bank employees for large depositors.
Hilliard and his co-conspirators then recruited people in need of money to enter banks posing as the account holders, according to court documents. Each individual was provided with a fake identification card, a completed withdrawal form and personal information about the account holder he or she was impersonating. The people who worked as imposters allegedly received 10 to 15 percent of the total withdrawal as payment.
The scheme was uncovered by employees at the banks that included TD Bank, Citibank, Wells Fargo and Capital One Bank, according to court documents. At least two members were arrested in 2013 and gave information to police about the operation.
Hilliard first was arrested Feb. 21, 2014, shortly before he was to board a plane from JFK Airport in New York City for the Dominican Republic. He has been free on $50,000 personal recognizance bail since March, 14, 2014, with the restriction that he travel only in southern New York, eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
A warrant was issued for his arrest on June 9, 2015, after Hilliard allegedly failed to contact his pretrial services officer. He was arrested Oct. 8 at a motel near the Augusta Civic Center when police respond to a complaint of someone smoking marijuana in a room, according to Kennebec County District Attorney Maeghan Maloney. Hilliard was charged with aggravated forgery, possession of marijuana and being a fugitive.
Hilliard was held at the Kennebec County Jail until he appeared in federal court Tuesday, when he went into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service so he could be returned to Pennsylvania. The state charges have been dropped, according the the U.S. attorney’s office in Portland.
Information about how much prison time Hilliard would face if convicted was not available Friday, but he could be ordered to pay $1.4 million in restitution and forfeit any items he purchased with the illegally obtained funds.