Rhode Island man in federal prison pleads guilty to bank fraud, US Attorney says

February 10, 2025

1 1 minute read

A Rhode Island man who is in federal prison admitted Monday that he deposited nearly $50,000 in stolen or fraudulent checks into multiple bank accounts in his name, the U.S. Attorney said.

Ryan DaCruz, 28, is in federal prison on separate charges of being a felon in possession of ammunition, U.S. Attorney Zachary Cunha said in a statement.

DaCruz pleaded guilty on Monday to a charge of bank fraud conspiracy. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 11.

DaCruz admitted to a federal judge that, before his incarceration, he deposited stolen or fraudulent checks totaling “tens of thousands of dollars” into multiple bank accounts.

Several checks had been stolen from the U.S. Mail stream, Cunha said.

DaCruz admitted that between February 2022 and May 2023, he opened bank accounts at four Rhode Island banks into which he then deposited the stolen checks, Cunha said.

According to information presented to the court, most of the stolen checks were third party business checks, and appeared to have been “washed” so that the payee names could be changed to Ryan DaCruz, and then deposited into his accounts.

DaCruz would then quickly take out cash withdrawals or money transfers to deplete the accounts.

When the banks recognized the deposited checks as fraud, they closed the accounts.

DaCruz would then open a new account at a different bank, Cunha said.

In some instances, the banks were able to stop payment on checks before the funds were completely depleted; in other instances, they were not, Cunha said.

In August, DaCruz was sentenced to serve 24 months in federal prison after his January 2024 conviction for being a felon in possession of ammunition.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.