SAN DIEGO (5/15/09)--More than 60 members and associates of the San Diego Lincoln Park Street Gang were arrested Tuesday and charged with stealing $500,000 from a credit union by recruiting young credit union members to give up their account information so the account could receive counterfeit check deposits.
The gang then withdrew thousands of dollars from an ATM at a casino and the accomplice account holders, who received a portion of the payout, would file a police report for an unauthorized withdrawal, said California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. and San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis in a press release.
In a multi-agency operation termed "Bank Gig," a Tuesday morning pre-dawn sweep by more than 100 law enforcement officers took the suspects into custody. They are being held on 347 felony charges related to conspiracy, grand theft, money laundering, recruiting to commit a felony for a gang, unlawful sale of access card information , burglary and gang enhancement.
After obtaining personal account information and personal identification numbers from members of Navy FCU, gang members would deposit counterfeit checks into the members' accounts, then withdraw thousands from an ATM machine at Barona Casino near San Diego.
"The size, scope and sophistication of this operation show us that criminal street gangs in San Diego are expanding their criminal enterprise into white collar crime," said Dumanis.
The investigation began when the credit union in 2005 reported to the U.S. Secret Service a significant increase in fraud reports from young members reporting their account information and PINs had been stolen.
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