BALTIMORE, MD—A federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging four defendants with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Charged in the indictment are:

• Raissa Kaossele, 22, of Baltimore;
• Damilola Ojo, 29, of Pikesville;
• Victor Ojo, 28, of Edgewood;
• Jamelia Thompson, 29, of Pikesville.

The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron and Special Agent in Charge Andrew McKay of the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

According to the allegations in the eight-count indictment, from April 2016 to May 2019, the defendants allegedly executed a business email compromise scheme (“BEC scheme”). The defendants compromised email accounts of individual and business victims, which they used to send fraudulent payment instructions to financial institutions or business associates to misappropriate funds. The indictment alleges that the defendants used the stolen identifying information of individual victims to obtain Employer Identification Numbers and state business certificates in the name of shell businesses.

As alleged in the indictment, the defendants also obtained legitimate checks written on the accounts of payor business victims and made payable to payee business victims. The defendants allegedly altered the name of the payee on some checks and deposited the stolen checks into bank accounts they opened and controlled. Further, the indictment alleges the defendants and other conspirators then withdrew the unlawfully deposited funds from the accounts. As alleged in court documents, the defendants and other co-conspirators conducted over $4 million in fraudulent bank transactions.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud, a maximum of 30 years in prison for bank fraud, and a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in federal prison consecutive to any other sentenced imposed for aggravated identity theft.

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