SANTA ANA, Calif.—A 26-year-old Placentia man pleaded guilty May 25 to a social media check fraud scheme of teaching people how to create false checks using Telegram chat groups, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Meshach Samuels pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and two counts of being a felon in possession of weapons, federal prosecutors said.
The scheme sought about $1.2 million, but led to at least $400,000 in losses, prosecutors said.
Samuels charged his social media followers thousands of dollars for tips on how to recruit accomplices in a check fraud scheme to rip off banks, prosecutors said. From May 2021 through March 2022, Samuels and others ran the scheme which involved stolen personal information and depositing fraudulent checks into third-party accounts, prosecutors said….