KC woman charged in $1.9m bank fraud scheme

Date: Nov. 14, 2024

Contact: [email protected]

Kansas City, MO - A Kansas City, Mo., woman has been charged in federal court for a scheme to use stolen identities to deposit fraudulent U.S. Treasury checks totaling more than $1.9 million into her bank accounts.

Briauna L. Adams was charged in a seven-count criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., on Wednesday, Nov. 13. Adams was arrested today and, following an initial court appearance, remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the federal criminal complaint, Adams used a stolen identity to open a bank account on March 12, 2024. Approximately two hours after the account was open, the affidavit says, Adams deposited a stolen U.S. Treasury check in the amount of $10,590. The bank flagged the check as suspicious and did not credit the account. A Louisiana woman told investigators she had been expecting a check from the Internal Revenue Service and had been a recent victim of identity theft.

On June 18, 2024, Adams allegedly deposited a fraudulent U.S. Treasury check in the amount of $450,504 into an investment account she had recently opened. The bank placed a 10-day hold on most of the balance, however, access was granted to a percentage of the funds for "good faith" investing. Adams transferred $12,000 from the account to two personal bank accounts, the affidavit says. Hours after both transfers were complete, the bank received notification that the U.S. Treasury check Adams deposited was fraudulent and reversed the deposit from Adams's account, leaving a negative balance and causing the bank to suffer a financial loss.

Investigators traced the IP address that was used to access the accounts and learned that Adams allegedly had used the stolen identity of a Texas woman, including a driver's license, when she rented an apartment in Kansas City, Mo. Adams moved out of the apartment in July 2024 after failing to pay more than $14,000 in rent.

On Aug. 15, 2024, Adams allegedly deposited a U.S. Treasury check worth $1,445,443 into another investment account with a different firm. Over the next two days, Adams accessed the account online eight times. Fraud investigators with the firm determined the U.S. Treasury check was fraudulent and reversed the deposit before suffering a financial loss.

Investigators traced the IP addresses that were used in an attempt to gain access to the illicit funds and learned that Adams allegedly had used the stolen identity of a second Texas woman, including a driver's license, to rent a townhouse in Raymore, Mo.

The federal criminal complaint charges Adams with one count of bank fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, three counts of wire fraud, and two counts of money laundering.

The charges contained in this complaint are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Becker. It was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.

IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.