Former students accused of bank fraud

Three former Portland State students–two of whom played football for the Vikings in 2006–have been charged with bank fraud by the U.S. Attorney’s office under allegations that they methodically weaned $100,000 from two corporate banks over the course of a year and a half.

The students, along with two other men, could face as many as 30 years in prison and be forced to pay up to $1 million in fines if found guilty for bank fraud when they go to trial on March 3. The FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office are still investigating the case, and the five men may be charged with taking more money from the banks.

None of the students, including former football players Dominic Dixon and Brandon Jones, are still enrolled at PSU.The incident sounds more like the idea of a Hollywood screenwriter than like the workings of a few PSU students.Court documents detail how the men allegedly committed the felony:

The five men allegedly began siphoning money from Washington Mutual and U.S. Bank in June 2005, by using stolen checks and the debit cards and PIN numbers of primarily PSU students.

First, Ralph Artiaga, one of the non-students, and other members of the group would attain checks belonging to Portland residents. Then members of the group would recruit students and others to sell the five men their bankcards and PIN numbers.

A group member would forge signatures on a check payable to the new recruit and deposit it in the recruit’s bank account through an ATM. Once the deposit was approved and the money was in the recruit’s account, the group members would make a withdrawal for the same amount from an ATM. The check would then bounce.

In the final part of the scheme, the recruit would call the bank and cancel his or her card, claiming that it had been lost or stolen. After that, the bank would be stuck with the tab, while the group member had a pocket of cash, the recruit had been paid off, and a new bankcard would be in the mail.

While the process was simple, the banks didn’t figure out what was happening for almost a year and half until January 2007. Now that the FBI has apprehended the five men, most of whom have been released under supervision, the agency is trying to find all the recruits who helped the men.

So far they have found 20 people, mostly PSU students according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

The FBI’s spokesperson, Beth Anne Steele, said the agency will not charge anyone who worked as a recruit with a crime, if they are cooperative, honest and contact the FBI before it contacts them. Anyone who doesn’t, Steele said, will face charges.

“We hope those people will come to us as opposed to us having to go find them,” she said.

Dixon was the starting cornerback for the Vikings in 2005 and 2006. During both years, he was selected for first team Big Sky all-conference defense. In 2006, he led the league with four interceptions. Dixon said he did not want to comment on the charges Tuesday afternoon.

Jones was also on the team in 2005 and 2006 as a wide receiver. The FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office identified Joe Softli as a PSU student, but the Office of Registration and Records has no listing of his enrollment.

The two non-students, Artiaga and Calvin Davis, are also being charged with aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory two-year prison sentence. Artiaga is currently in custody in Tacoma, Wash., for unrelated charges.