Long Beach Man Charged with Conspiracy

A Long Beach resident was charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud for allegedly participating in an identity theft scheme that targeted hundreds of JP Morgan Chase & Co. account holders across the nation and caused more than $1 million in losses, officials announced Friday.

Raymond Goodie, along with six others, were taken into custody but one remains at large.

According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court on June 13, the defendants obtained confidential information belonging to Chase account holders, including birthdates and Social Security numbers. Armed with the stolen information, members of the organization posed as bank clients and withdrew money from the accounts of Chase customers, many of whom were elderly victims.        

The accused ringleader—Hardy Jones, 64, of South Los Angeles—was arrested Wednesday. During his initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon, Jones was ordered held without bond and an arraignment was scheduled for him and the other defendants on July 8.        

The criminal complaint alleges that, after obtaining confidential information belonging to Chase clients, Jones directed “runners” to go to Chase branches to obtain money from victims’ accounts. The runners received a cut as payment, typically one-fourth to one-third of the amount withdrawn. In addition to banks in the Los Angeles area, the criminal complaint describes unauthorized withdrawals at Chase branches in Illinois, Texas and Wisconsin.        

When federal investigators executed a search warrant at Jones’ residence in March, they recovered numerous counterfeit driver’s licenses, Social Security cards and credit cards bearing the names of Chase account holders. Investigators also recovered detailed ledgers containing the names of Chase clients, their bank account numbers and other identifying information.        

Also charged in the criminal complaint is Llewellyn Dickson, 48, of South Los Angeles (90044). Dickson, who also was taken into custody Wednesday, is suspected of helping oversee the fraud scheme and transporting runners to the banks to make the unauthorized withdrawals.        

The remaining defendants—including Goodie of Long Beach—named in the complaint allegedly served as runners who impersonated bank clients. Brigette Boylan, 50, of Inglewood, who is fugitive being sought by authorities.