BOSTON — A Lynn man was arrested on Wednesday and charged in connection with a scheme to impersonate bank customers and fraudulently withdraw money from their bank accounts.
Antonio Niati, 28, was indicted on one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and was scheduled to appear before a U.S. Magistrate judge on Wednesday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
In April 2017, Niati directed co-conspirators to conduct fraudulent transactions in victims’ bank accounts at a branch of Santander Bank in Dorchester, prosecutors said.
Niati allegedly directed a co-conspirator to impersonate bank customers by using fraudulent driver’s licenses, and recruited and paid a bank teller to facilitate the fraudulent transactions. The indictment alleges Niati and his co-conspirators fraudulently withdrew more than $640,000 from the accounts of bank customers, prosecutors said.
The charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud carries a sentence of no more than 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million.