U.S. Treasury Check Fraud Ring Busted
OAKLAND — A federal grand jury has indicted Franchesca Calagui and Dondre Gray on charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud. Calagui is also charged with receipt of a U.S. Treasury check with forged endorsement or signature.
According to the indictment unsealed yesterday, from approximately May 2022 through March 2023, Calagui and Gray, both of Emeryville, Calif., allegedly conspired to obtain stolen U.S. Treasury checks, recruit others to fraudulently endorse or sign the checks, and give the checks to Calagui to cash for their personal benefit. During this period, Calagui was employed as a part-time associate banker at JP Morgan Chase Bank.
The indictment includes text messages between Gray and Calagui discussing the scheme, where Gray expressed concern about scamming a bank where Calagui worked, to which Calagui responded “I do not care if u scam us lmao.” Gray reportedly described using runners—individuals paid to enter banks with fraudulent checks, cash them, and return the proceeds to the operators of the scheme. The defendants are charged with attempting to cash at least 339 stolen U.S. Treasury checks totaling more than $850,000.
Acting United States Attorney Patrick D. Robbins, Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Los Angeles Field Office, FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Dan Costin, TIGTA Acting Special Agent in Charge Brandon Knarr, Special Agent in Charge Ryan Korner from the FDIC Office of Inspector General (FDIC-OIG), San Francisco Division Inspector in Charge Stephen M. Sherwood of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Special Agent in Charge Dimitriana Nikolov with the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Inspector General’s (VA OIG) Northwest Field Office, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Dean Lake of the Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General (SSA OIG) made the announcement.
Both defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1349 and five counts of bank fraud under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1344(1), (2). Additionally, Calagui faces five counts of receipt of a U.S. Treasury check with forged endorsement or signature under 18 U.S.C. § 510(b). Calagui and Gray were arrested and made their initial appearances in federal district court yesterday. They are scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers on April 3, 2025, for a status conference.
An indictment alleges that a crime has been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a fine of $1,000,000 on each charged count. Any sentence following conviction would be determined by the court, considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing sentencing, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Special Assistant United States Attorney Cynthia Johnson is prosecuting the case, assisted by Amala James. The prosecution results from an investigation by the IRS-CI, FBI, TIGTA, FDIC-OIG, USPIS, VA OIG, and SSA OIG.
IRS-CI conducts financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, and identity theft. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents authorized to investigate violations of the Internal Revenue Code, achieving a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.
IR-2013-27: Enrolled Agent Disbarred for Steali ng a Client’s Tax Payments and Preparing Returns with False Deductions
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced that its Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) obtained the disbarment of enrolled agent Lorna M. Walker for stealing a client’s tax payments and for preparing tax returns with false deductions for multiple clients.
Walker’s enrolled agent status and her ability to prepare federal tax returns were revoked for at least five years. Walker practiced in the Seattle area.
“Practitioners who disregard their responsibilities to the tax system and their clients can expect to hear from OPR,” said Karen L. Hawkins, director of OPR. “Any tax professional who steals from a client or causes them undue tax problems is unfit to practice before this agency.”
In a Final Agency Decision, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) disbarred Walker for misappropriating client payments intended for the IRS in furtherance of an offer in compromise, and for preparing multiple returns containing Schedule C deductions for which she could not produce substantiation on audit.
Walker was engaged to represent a taxpayer in a collection matter. The client gave Walker two money orders totaling $1,500 to forward to the IRS along with an offer in compromise for delinquent taxes. It was found by the ALJ that Walker altered, endorsed and cashed the money orders for her own personal use, which are acts of willful incompetent and disreputable conduct under Circular 230.
The ALJ also found that Walker prepared Forms 1040 for seven clients claiming Schedule C deductions that were unsubstantiated and unsupportable. It was found that Walker failed to exercise due diligence in preparing the Schedule C’s thereby violating multiple due diligence provisions contained in Circular 230.
Walker also failed to respond to the administrative complaint and the motion for default judgment. The ALJ determined that because Walker failed to respond either to the complaint or to the motion for default judgment, she was deemed to admit all the allegations in the complaint, and to not oppose the default motion.
The text of the ALJ Decision can be found on IRS.gov.
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