The 46-year-old from Ridgefield deposited fake checks for large amounts and managed to withdraw money before the bank noticed
NEWARK -- A 46-year-old Bergen County woman was sentenced Thursday to more than 2 years in prison for her role in a $1.7 million check fraud scheme.
The ruse began in July 2014 when Chunhua Jin, of Ridgefield, and others opened bank accounts the name of fakes businesses, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Paul J. Fishman said in a news release.
Jin and her two unnamed cohorts then spent the next several weeks making small deposits and withdrawals from banks in Atlantic, Middlesex and Morris counties to give the impression the accounts were legitimate. Then Jin deposited a phony check for a large amount and waited for the bank to credit some of the amount for withdrawal.
She then took as much money out of the account as the banks would allow before the bank realized in April 2015 what Jin and her associates were up to and blocked further withdrawals.
In all, the banks lost $1,727,056.42, according to court papers.
One of the banks she defrauded was Bank of America. The others were not named.
Jin pleaded guilty in May 2016 to one count of bank fraud conspiracy. She will also be subject to five years of supervised release and was ordered to pay restitution.
Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.