Tenisha Nkesha Francis, 32, of Lake Worth, Fla., and Ryan Michael Francis, 27, of Riviera Beach, Fla., both recently pled guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of theft of government funds for their involvement in a stolen identity tax refund (SIRF) scheme.
Tenisha Francis, who worked as a financial services representative at TD Bank, opened seven fraudulent accounts at the bank using stolen identities provided by Ryan Francis, who paid her between $200 and $500 to open each account.
Stolen U.S. Treasury checks were deposited into the fraudulent accounts, and funds were then withdrawn at ATMs, via check card purchases, and via checks made out to Ryan Francis, his wife Vanessa Brown, and his company.
The amount of loss attributed to Tenisha Francis’ activities is estimated to be between $120,000 and $200,000.
Both defendants face up to 12 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for September 11, 2014.
