A series of large, fraudulent cash withdrawals made with fake military IDs and passports at banks from Wasilla to the Kenai Peninsula have landed a man and woman in jail.
That’s according to federal bank fraud and identity theft charges filed Friday against Karey McLeish, 25, and Rebekah Walker, 45, who had apparently flown from Texas to Alaska.
The scheme allegedly took place in mid-April and involved McLeish driving Walker in a rented vehicle to various Southcentral Alaska credit unions. At least three times, the charges say, Walker withdrew $9,500 from a bank account using fake identification that bore the real account holder’s name but Walker’s photo.
The victims’ names are abbreviated to only their initials in the charges, which note that authorities found McLeish and Walker in possession of military IDs and passports with the names and ages of Alaska residents but each with Walker’s picture.
According to the charges, this is what a federal investigator says happened:
Starting about April 14, Walker made $9,500 withdrawals from Northrim Bank branches in Wasilla and Eagle River but was unsuccessful in withdrawing that same amount at a branch in Anchorage. (Under the Bank Secrecy Act, financial institutions are required to notify the federal government of any withdrawals of $10,000 or more).
Surveillance camera footage from the Wasilla branch showed Walker getting picked up by someone in an orange SUV.
The next day in Soldotna, Walker tried to make another $9,500 withdrawal from a Credit Union 1 account.
“The teller thought the passport card looked funny and showed it (to) the manager who called the credit union fraud department,” the charges say. “While on the phone with the fraud department, Walker left the credit union.”
Surveillance video again showed the orange SUV dropping off Walker and picking her up after the failed withdrawal attempt.
Later, at Kenai First National Bank, she tried to open a line of credit with someone else’s account, but staff at the bank recognized Walker from photos included in an internal fraud alert.
Bank staff called police but Walker fled before they arrived. Kenai police found the orange SUV a short time later and began questioning McLeish, who had a Texas driver’s license, and Walker, whose ID said she was from Connecticut. Walker also had a plane ticket on her showing she’d flown from Houston, Texas the day before the fraudulent bank withdrawals started.
Officers searched the Chevy SUV and found three cell phones that contained lists with names, social security numbers, addresses, and bank information for different people, according to the charges. The officers also found hotel key cards for the Best Western hotel in Soldotna, where they found 11 military ID cards and 11 passports, all with different people’s names and Walker’s photo on them.
According to an April 16 press release from the Soldotna Police Department, officers arrested McLeish and Walker. As of Wednesday, they remained jailed at the Wildwood Correctional Complex in Kenai.
Court records did not show attorneys listed for either McLeish or Walker.
