PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — A sixth person has pleaded guilty to playing a role in a scheme that cheated banks in multiple states out of $2.4 million by obtaining and attempting to obtain car loans using stolen identities, federal prosecutors said.
Fernando Diaz, 34, of Haverhill, Massachusetts pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence on Tuesday to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Diaz used the stolen identity of a Connecticut resident to obtain a $50,000 loan from an online finance company in December 2017, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office in Rhode Island.
The money was deposited into a bank account opened using the same stolen identity, then withdrawn, prosecutors said.
In addition, Diaz applied for three used car loans of more than $35,000 in June 2019, purportedly to buy a Porsche. Each application was accompanied by counterfeit documents, including a fraudulent car title and a fake bill of sale, prosecutors said.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 5.
The admitted ringleader of the scheme, Roland Estrella, 33, a used car dealer from Dracut, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in October and faces sentencing on March 24.
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