United States of America v. Raymond Wade and Dwayne Reddon

Trenton, New Jersey criminal defense lawyers represented the Defendants charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1349.

Raymond Wade, age 43, of Morrisville, Pennsylvania, and Dwayne Reddon, age 40, of Trenton, New Jersey, conspired to deposit stolen checks—including U.S. Department of Treasury checks—at various banks in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The conspirators impersonated the businesses or individuals listed as payees on the stolen checks, often by acquiring business documents in the names of the payees. Once the conspirators acquired fraudulent business documents or opened fraudulent bank accounts, they deposited the stolen checks and split the proceeds. In total, the conspirators deposited or attempted to deposit over 100 Treasury and commercial checks totaling over $11 million. Many of the Treasury checks were refunds issued as Employee Retention Credits, a program the Internal Revenue Service created during the COVID-19 pandemic to encourage businesses to retain employees.

The Defendants both elected to plead guilty and face a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and also carries a fine of up to $1,000,000, twice the gross amount of any pecuniary gain that any persons derived from the offense, or twice the gross amount of any pecuniary loss sustained by any victims of the offense.