New York woman pleads guilty to ID theft scheme

Kylie Cerda, 46, pleaded guilty last week to stealing more than $300,000 dollars from JPMorgan Chase Bank and more than $30,000 dollars from Citibank through the use of stolen bank customer account numbers, identities, and personal identifying information. The plea was announced by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance.

According to documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court, Cerda, a Staten Island resident, obtained the names, addresses, dates of birth and bank account numbers of numerous bank customers at both JPMorgan Chase Bank and Citibank. A press release issued by the district attorney’s office did not indicate how Cerda obtained the identity information, however.

Between November 26, 2007 and April 29, 2010, Cerda entered various Chase and Citibank branches in and around Manhattan and approached teller windows with withdrawal slips already filled out containing the stolen bank customers’ information. She presented forged driver’s licenses containing her photo but the victims’ personal information printed on the forged license. Cerda often performed multiple withdrawals from the same customer account on the same date at different branches of the same bank.

Cerda made substantial withdrawals from 23 different customer accounts at JPMorgan Chase by pretending to be those customers. On at least one occasion, she obtained a new debit card linked to the victim’s bank account and used the debit card to withdraw $56,000 from various ATM machines in and around Manhattan. The investigation into this case is ongoing.