A federal judge sentenced Aneicia Ford, a former employee of the $28.8 billion BECU, to 30 months in prison for selling members’ personal account information to coconspirators who stole hundreds of thousands of dollars.
During a court hearing last week, U.S. District Court Judge Jamal N. Whitehead in Seattle also ordered Ford, 32, to pay $345,014 in restitution to the credit union. The Tukwila, Wash.-based BECU covered the losses and made all members whole, according to court documents.
Ford pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Although BECU declined to comment on this case, it confirmed that Ford was briefly employed there in 2022. Prosecutors referred BECU as "Victim Credit Union" in court filings.
Within weeks of the start of her employment on March 28, 2022, Ford, who worked from her Tacoma home, began selling members’ account information. Before her termination on Aug. 31, 2022, she unlawfully retained the personal identifying information of at least 23 members, which she passed to co-conspirator Dangelo Roberts, the scheme’s organizer, according to prosecutors.
Roberts promoted his ability to make false identification documents via social media and recruited others to use stolen identities to access member accounts. The coconspirators included Shanna Carter-Zanders, Kohrey Lee Bridges, Anthony McQueen, and Meghan Frazier.
Using the stolen information and false IDs from Roberts, they obtained new debit cards and withdrew funds, often from BECU branches.
Roberts coached them to impersonate account holders and instructed them to request ATM limit increases to withdraw up to $25,000 in cash.
He also told the coconspirators to use cashier’s checks and postal money orders to divert the stolen funds to himself or other coconspirators, according to court documents.
“Ford received an unknown amount for her efforts. It is clear, however, that the payment she received or was promised was enough for her to jeopardize her employment as a single mother to two young children and risk criminal charges,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo to Judge Whithead. “Moreover, [BECU] expressly informed her that her electronic access would be monitored, so Ford must have known that she would eventually be caught red-handed. That knowledge shows the brazenness of her conduct as well as the perceived financial straits that propelled her to commit this crime instead of turning to her family for support.”
Prosecutors said at least one member closed their accounts, while others were left repairing their finances and dealing with lingering anxiety from the data breach.
Ford, who had no prior criminal history and worked full-time for a charitable organization, requested a 24-month home detention sentence.
Roberts, 23, was sentenced in November to 36 months in prison and ordered to pay $146,016 in restitution after pleading guilty in June.
Carter-Zanders, 42, of Auburn, pleaded guilty in May; her case is pending.
Bridges, 22, of Tumwater, received a sentence of time served, three years of supervised release, and 100 hours of community service. He was ordered to pay $112,578 in restitution.
McQueen, 36, of Seattle, pleaded guilty in September. Prosecutors filed an order of forfeiture for $66,395. His sentencing is pending.
Frazier, 21, of University Place, pleaded guilty in May and was sentenced to time served and was ordered to pay $23,505 in restitution.
Peter Strozniak can be reached at peter.strozniak@arc-network.com.
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