Kansas City, Missouri – Twenty-two-year-old ex-Kansas City, Missouri resident Fremon Reaves Jr. pleaded guilty to a bank fraud case aimed at two local financial institutions. Reaves Jr. admitted one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud during Magistrate Judge Jill A. Morris’s hearing.
The case against Reaves Jr. developed when an investigator from a local financial institution notified the Kansas City branch of the FBI about a potential check fraud operation influencing the area. The scam included using social media platforms to convince people to give over their debit cards and personal identification numbers (PINs). These volunteers were unknowingly part of a larger scheme where fraudulent checks were deposited into their accounts.
Surveillance footage saw Reaves Jr. and another person, later identified as Gerald Humphreys Jr., depositing the fake checks into numerous accounts. Written for similar sums, these checks used identical check card stocks, therefore connecting them directly to the fraudulent activity. Deposits were followed by cash withdrawals, debit card purchases, and transfers—including those using Cash App—to drain money from the accounts before the fraud could be discovered.
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Aiming to extract almost $400,000 from the affected institutions, the conspirators of this operation, which started in April 2022 and ran until at least September of the same year, caused actual losses about $90,000. Both financial entities involved were insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), heightening the severity of the offense.
Gerald Humphreys Jr., Reaves Jr.’s co-conspirator, had earlier entered a guilty plea to the same accusation on March 28 and is now awaiting sentence. Reaves Jr.’s plea now puts him under threat of up to 30 years in federal prison under federal law.
The actual sentence will be set, nevertheless, using advisory sentencing guidelines, other statutory considerations, and the results of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.
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A date for Reaves Jr.’s sentencing hearing will be scheduled following the completion of this investigation, bringing closure to a significant case of financial fraud impacting the Kansas City area.
