Plano man charged with defrauding DeKalb bank using high school students’ accounts: court records

A 20-year-old Plano man faces potentially decades in prison after police said he defrauded a DeKalb bank by depositing fake checks into other people’s accounts and then quickly withdrawing the funds, DeKalb County court records show.

Armani N. Smith was charged Thursday with being the organizer of a financial crimes enterprise, three counts of conspiracy to commit a financial crime, one count of financial institution fraud involving more than $10,000 and five counts of forgery.

If convicted of being the organizer of a financial crimes enterprise, Smith faces six to 30 years in prison. The charge is not probational.

Smith did not have an attorney listed in court records as of Monday morning. A warrant has been issued for his arrest but as of early Monday afternoon, he had not been arrested.

The DeKalb Police Department was contacted by a fraud investigator for First National Bank of Omaha in DeKalb, who told the officer that five fraudulent checks had been deposited into three separate customer accounts and then the money quickly withdrawn or transferred, according to a synopsis filed by the department.

He is accused of earning $13,571 through the scheme, court records show.

One of the customers told police he received a Snapchat message from Smith asking if he wanted to get paid and what bank he used. He said he gave Smith his debit card and the log-in information for his mobile banking account, according to the synopsis.

The customer told the DeKalb police officer that he was to be paid $800 for participating in the scheme but never was. He said he was told to tell the bank that he sold his car if he was ever questioned about the deposits.

The investigator said two checks worth almost $9,500 were deposited into the customer’s account and then withdrawn using its CashApp account. Two additional withdrawals were made from an ATM in Sugar Grove.

About $6,000 also was transferred to another customer’s account, according to the synopsis. That customer said Smith convinced her to give him her mobile bank login details and her phone. She said he took the phone and held it up to her face to unlock her banking app.

He then used it and when he gave it back to her, about $6,000 had been transferred into her account, she told police. She said he then followed her to the bank where he told her to go in and withdraw the money in cash.

She told police she tried to but the bank said she was younger than 18 and needed a parent to make a withdrawal like that, according to the synopsis. She then went, with Smith following, to an ATM in Somonauk where she withdrew about $900.

She said she learned Smith “has done this scam with multiple high school students,” according to the synopsis.

A third customer also told police that he sent Smith his debit card and online banking information, according to the synopsis. He said he was supposed to receive $1,000 but never did.

The investigator said two checks worth almost $9,600 total were deposited into that customer’s account and then withdrawn at a “rapid pace” using the CashApp account. Two additional withdrawals were made at the same ATM and at the same time as the other ATM withdrawals in Sugar Grove.