From Tribune staff reports
LEEDS, Ala.–The Leeds Police Department announced today that five people have been arrested and charged as part of a scheme to make fraudulent withdrawals at banks across multiple states.
On Sept. 4, Leeds PD received a call for service at Millennial Bank, located in Leeds, where bank employees were alleging that a man was making fraudulent withdrawals using fraudulent documents.
As officers arrived on the scene, the man fled but was apprehended after a short pursuit.
During the investigation, detectives determined that the man, who was homeless and resided in Hartford, Connecticut, had attempted to make the withdrawals at the direction of three men from New York.
The three men were later identified as Jaylen Scott-King, Omari Daeshaun Cunningham, and Jeffrey Sajay Smith.
Later in the investigation, and with the assistance of Homewood PD, detectives determined there were two additional men from New York involved in the operation who had been directing a homeless woman from Hartford.
Those two men were later identified as Belvis Dapaah and Nana Gyapong.
According to police, the five men had provided transportation to the two homeless individuals from Hartford to the Southeastern United States, including Alabama.
From there, the two individuals allegedly entered numerous banks and made fraudulent withdrawals with fraudulent IDs and passports at the direction of Scott-King, Cunningham, Smith, Dapaah, and Gyapong.
Police also stated that the two individuals were provided with a “plethora of illegal narcotics” and were promised a percentage of the illegally obtained currency, which they never received.
The investigation determined that crimes linked to the operation, including fraudulent withdrawals, had occurred in Leeds, Trussville, Irondale, Birmingham, Hoover, Vestavia Hills, Pell City, Montgomery, and Anniston.
Police believe even more cities within the state are involved, and the investigation is still ongoing.
With the assistance of Homewood PD, Dapaah and Cunningham were taken into custody with the homeless female on Sept. 5.
With the assistance of the FBI, Scott-King, Gyapong, and Smith were taken into custody after fleeing back to the Bronx, New York.
Dapaah, Cunningham, Scott-King, Smith, and Gyapong are all currently being held in the Jefferson County Jail with no bond.
Scott-King, 27, has been charged with two counts of first-degree human trafficking and two counts of first-degree theft of property.
Cunningham, 24, has been charged with two counts of first-degree human trafficking, trafficking in stolen identities, obstructing justice using a false identity, first-degree theft of property, 12 counts of encoded data fraud, and tampering with physical evidence.
Smith, 24, has been charged with two counts of first-degree human trafficking and first-degree theft of property.
Dapaah, 28, has been charged with two counts of first-degree human trafficking, trafficking in stolen identities, and 12 counts of encoded data fraud.
Gyapong, 26, has been charged with two counts of first-degree human trafficking.
Additional charges against the men are pending.
“I am so proud of the hard work and dedication of our personnel in bringing these individuals into custody,” Leeds Police Chief Paul Irwin said.”I am honored to work with them everyday.”
He also thanked the many local, state, and federal agencies that assisted in the investigation.
“When agencies work together we can continue to remove people like these from our communities,” Irwin said.
