CLEVELAND–There is nothing funny about fraud or theft, but it can bring with it some oddities. Consider these three examples.
In Ohio, a former employee of an Ohio-based bank whose job was to protect customers against fraud instead stole elderly clients’ personal information and diverted their money into his own accounts — a year-long fraud totaling $2 million, according to federal prosecutors.
Following a five-day trial, a federal jury convicted Yue Cao, 36, a Chinese national, of 10 counts of bank fraud, four counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of money laundering, according to David Toepfer, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
Used Internal Access
Prosecutors said Cao was a quantitative analytics manager for the Ohio-based bank — which was not named in the release — hired to protect customers from fraud.
“Instead, he used his access to customers’ information to create new online banking accounts in their names, creating new email addresses for more than 100 victims using an offshore server,” according to prosecutors. “Cao also used their identities to open brokerage accounts without their knowledge and used their money in options trading and in trades with his own person brokerage account.”
Victims From 90 to 103 Years Old
In all, he illegally transferred about $2 million between 2022 and 2023, prosecutors said.
The victims ranged in age from 90 to 103 years old, and lived in Canton and four other states, according to prosecutors.
Court records show Cao, who was a fully remote employee of the bank, was arrested in Chicago in May 2024.
Cao does not yet have a sentencing date. He faces a minimum mandatory prison term of two years, up to a maximum of 30 years, prosecutors said.
Despite Card Theft Charge, Olympian Wins Gold
Separately, in Italy, Julia Simon of France won a gold medal in the 15km individual biathlon race at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, even after in October 2025 Simon was charged and found guilty of theft and credit card fraud. Simon was accused of using the bank card of teammate Justine Braisaz-Bouchet.
Simon racked up more than $2,300 in online purchases and was given a three-month suspended sentence and fined $17,781.60 by a French court.
‘I Can’t Explain It’
“I can’t explain it. I don’t remember doing it. I can’t make sense of it,” Simon said during her trial, according to media reports.
The 29-year-old Simon admitted to the crime and apologized for her actions.
She was allowed to compete in Italy after the French ski federation handed her a six-month ban, including a five-month suspension. Simon received a 30,000-euro ($34,600) fine, with 15,000 euros suspended by the ski federation.
Women Who Alleged Space Invader is Sentenced
In Houston, after making false claims that astronaut Anne McClain had illegally accessed her bank account while deployed to the International Space Station, Summer Heather Worden, 51, of Sedgwick County, Kan., pleaded guilty on November 14, 2025, to making false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements and representations to law enforcement.
U.S. District Judge Alfred H. Bennett sentenced her to three months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release. The court also ordered Worden to pay $210,000 in restitution.
In July 2019, Worden alleged that her estranged spouse, astronaut Anne McClain, had guessed her password and illegally accessed her bank account while deployed to the International Space Station. However, evidence presented at sentencing showed the allegations were unfounded
