ALBANY – A case that started with Bethlehem detectives breaking a SEFCU fraud ring in Slingerlands and Glenmont concluded Monday, July 22 in Federal Court with a Queensbury man pleading guilty to bank fraud and identity theft.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Albany, Evan Cutler, 25, formally of Menands, admitted that between February and October 2022, he organized a conspiracy to defraud SEFCU by, among other things, applying for loans using stolen identities of other people, and withdrawing the loaned money in cash.
Cutler also admitted he and other members of the conspiracy applied for loans in other people’s names using fake New York driver licenses with their photographs but bearing the names and dates of birth of other people, and the proceeds were given to co-conspirator Allahson Allah, 53 of Albany. The conspirators also obtained customer account information from Caeshara Cannon, 34, of Albany, a former Member Service Manager at SEFCU, and used that information to create counterfeit checks, which were presented for negotiation at SEFCU branches.
On October 13, 2022, employees at the SEFCU branch at 12 Vista Blvd in Slingerlands called police to report a man was attempting to use fraudulent identification to withdraw $20,000 from the credit union. Police arrested Davon Parson, 21, of Albany, from inside the credit union. At the same time, they stopped Cutler in the parking lot for driving without a license in an uninsured vehicle.
Once the two were in custody, Bethlehem police said they started to piece together a larger scheme, with the assistance of SEFCU Fraud Prevention, that involved two additional people. Dnauticah Taylor-Sterman, 22, of Menands, had applied and received a loan a week before under a name she allegedly received from Cannon.
According to police records, they created supporting documentation after obtaining the identities of SEFCU customers from Cannon. They would then apply for and receive approval for personal loans, receiving cash in the transactions. Police said the first of several transactions began when Parson and Cutler allegedly cashed a $9,000 check at the Glenmont branch in August.
Cannon, Allahm, Parsons and Taylor-Sterman all pled guilty and will be sentenced in Federal court. Cutler is facing 2 to 32 years in prison when he is sentenced in November.
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