PORTLAND, Ore. – One of two men convicted of a major check-kiting scheme that hit six area credit unions was sentenced Monday to two years in prison and ordered to pay some $85,000 in restitution.
Bryan Domagalski, 37, pleaded guilty to a scheme in which he and co-defendant Christopher Brass opened 25 fraudulent accounts at credit unions and banks in Oregon and Washington, including First Tech CU, Oregon Community CU, OnPoint Community CU, People’s Community CU, Unitus Community CU and Columbia CU. The due also hit Bank of America, Washington Mutual, U.S. Bank and West Coast Bank.
The two men created the accounts using phony information, sometimes by just altering one of their real names, then deposited stolen or counterfeit checks into the accounts and withdrew cash on them, as much as $127,000.
When law enforcement began to catch up to Domagalski and Brass in Oregon, they relocated their scheme to Colorado, but not before they wrote more than $127,000 in bad checks in Oregon and Washington, causing an actual loss of more than $84,000.
