TAMPA, Fla. – A clergyman and former branch manager at Suncoast Schools FCU was charged yesterday with identity theft and money laundering in connection with a $400,000 scheme to fraudulently funnel money to relatives and friends.
Donnell Williams, a 36-year-old pastor at the Church of God in Christ House of Praise, recruited some of his parishioners to the scheme, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office. Four other people were arrested, including friends of Williams who recruited others to participate in the scheme.
Williams used his position at the credit union between July 26, 2006 and Feb. 12, 2008 to establish fraudulent loans to friends and relatives by falsifying loan applications, according to the charges. Williams also used his position within the credit union to circumvent security measures and used the personal information of others both with and without their consent. Williams also engaged in money laundering by filtering the ill-gotten funds through various other accounts.
He was fired from the credit union in February after credit union officials went to authorities with their suspicions.
Deputies found 120 loans that were obtained fraudulently by Williams, who was also a loan officer at the Hillsborough branch. He would get the loans by doctoring people's financial information, including employment status, credit history and sometimes using another person's identity to obtain a loan. He would take a percentage of the loan off the top.
Kenta Fabian, a close friend and church member of Williams, recruited other individuals to apply for loans at the credit union and assisted in falsifying the applications including employment, income and other qualifications necessary to obtain a loan, according to the charges. Fabian recruited family members and assisted them in improperly obtaining loans and received illegal monetary gain from these transactions.
Co-defendant Larry Grace, a former member of Williams’s church, used the information of others including his family members and a deceased person to fraudulently obtain funds from the credit union.
Co-defendant Eric Barr, a close friend of Williams, is charged with falsifying loan applications for both himself and another’s to illegally obtain money from the credit union.
A fourth co-defendant, Larry Grace, is charged with identity theft and grand theft.
Williams along with co-defendants would recruit individuals that were in the need of money and have them apply for loans at the credit union, authorities said. As loan officer/branch manager Williams would process the paperwork of individuals applying for the loans. If the person did not qualify for some reason such as: income, place of employment or credit rating, Williams would falsify the information necessary to process the loan. In some cases, he would process the loan for an amount greater than the amount the individual was asking for and keep the difference. In some of those cases, the individual was unaware of the greater amount due to the fact that Williams would have them sign paperwork before all the figures were added.
