BATON ROUGE, La.– A Baton Rouge woman has been accused of defrauding members of a local credit union out of more than $100,000 using a scam credit unions are always issuing warnings over, and yet it continues to find victims.
According to the Advocate, the woman then sent the money to accounts at the same credit union before attempting to launder it through L’Auberge Casino.
Ashana K. Webb, 27, was arrested for one count each of theft over $25,000, illegal transmission of monetary funds, and bank fraud — all related to a scheme that appears to have started in the spring, the Advocate reported.
According to the arrest record, in May several members of Neighbors FCU began contacting staff about receiving text messages asking if they had performed a transaction for various amounts. When members replied “no,” they received a call from someone claiming to be a member of the credit union’s fraud department, the report said.
‘Most of Their Money Was Gone’
“The fraudster then asked members for logins to their online banking accounts, after which members were told they wouldn’t have access to their accounts for 48 hours while the transactions were investigated,” the Advocate reported.
“When members checked their accounts days later, they discovered most of their money was gone, records show.”
Court records show that investigators with the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office learned that on May 2, Webb opened two accounts at Neighbors FCU, which was corroborated with video surveillance that matched Webb’s driver’s license.
“Records show that when the (credit union’s) real fraud department began investigating, it learned that a day after Webb opened her accounts, deposits of $2,000, $3,000 and $5,000 flowed into one of her accounts, records say,” the Advocate reported. “Those funds were quickly transferred to newly opened accounts at L’Auberge Casino. On May 4, surveillance footage captured a casino employee handing cash to Webb.”
More Than $150K Stolen
In total, the credit union is reporting that $158,440 was stolen from accounts as part of a broader scheme that involved multiple accounts and a team of fraudsters, according to the report. However, Webb is being charged with stealing $106,000 associated with a single account, the report added.
