A Calumet City man was sentenced to 4 years in prison and 2 years probation after pleading guilty to defrauding banks of more than $3.3 million through the theft of stolen business checks.
Oliver Coverson, 41, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Philip P. Simon in Hammond on April 25 after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Coverson also is ordered to pay more than $1 million in restitution to his victims.
According to the federal indictment, Coverson devised a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $3.3 million from the proceeds of 17 stolen business checks between May 2019 and December 2020. Fictitious corporations were registered with the Indiana and Illinois Secretaries of State by Coverson and his six co-conspirators. The indictment details an elaborate scheme of checks from legitimate businesses being stolen, then made out to one of the fraudulent businesses and bouncing through various accounts when the co-conspirators made a series of withdrawals and deposits.
One of the fraudulent business accounts was listed as G-0 Motors & Transport, which was registered to Coverson.
The co-conspirators allegedly used the funds to buy merchandise at Foot Locker and plane tickets to Los Angeles, the indictment states.
This case was investigated by United States Postal Inspection Service, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of Inspector General, and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, according to the release.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Abizer Zanzi and Zachary D. Heater.
