N.Y. Lawyer Among 4 Execs Charged in Alleged $422K-Plus ATM Scam
A New York lawyer is among four upper-middle-class individuals who forged a bond via New York University, where three of them studied, and then allegedly went on to collaborate in a claimed automatic teller machine scam that may have bilked banks of as much as $1 million.
Attorney and alleged ringleader Eric Manganelli, 36, is accused of demanding reimbursement from banks for money allegedly stolen from the conniving quartet’s accounts through unauthorized ATM withdrawals, according to the New York Post.
In fact, authorities contend, the four arranged to make withdrawals themselves, in disguise, and then falsely claimed that they had been the victims of ATM thefts. They are accused of scamming as many as 50 banks in Brooklyn, Long Island, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Although the current tally of the amount taken in the claimed scam is $422,000, the final total could come close to $1 million, the newspaper reports. The case began after a former homicide cop working as a bank investigator became suspicious and asked another bank to take a look at its own video footage.
Among the “absolutely absurd” excuses offered by the defendants was Manganelli’s claim, to one bank, that he had put all his ATM cards and a list of personal identification numbers into a leather briefcase that he then left on a counter as he was about to transfer the bag into a safety deposit box, says prosecutor Karen Turner of the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.
Manganelli was an intern at the Queen’s District Attorney’s office before working in private practice for a former chief of the office’s Rackets Bureau.
His three co-defendants worked for financial firms including Smith Barney and Fairport Capital, according to the Post and the New York Daily News.
Neither article includes any direct comment from the defendants, although the Daily News says defense attorneys vow to fight the charges, which include grand larceny and falsifying business records.
Manganelli has been released on $50,000 bail, and the other three defendants either have already been released on bail or are expected to be released on bail soon.
Hat tip: Brooklyn Heights Blog.
Additional coverage:
City Room (New York Times): “Four Are Charged in Bank Fraud Scheme”
Updated at 2 p.m. to link to City Room post.
