Abraham Othman Yacoub, 27, a Lakeland, FL-based body shop owner, pleaded guilty to bank fraud in a scheme that caused $181,540.51 in losses to financial institutions across Florida, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida.
Federal prosecutors said Yacoub conducted fraudulent banking activity between January 2021 and February 2023 through his companies, Visionary Auto Body LLC and Visionary Auto Care LLC. The fraudulent activity involved repeatedly depositing checks that had already been cashed into different business accounts he controlled. The banks then credited his accounts with funds from checks that had already been paid.
Yacoub then withdrew, transferred or spent the funds before the banks identified the duplicative deposits, according to the plea agreement.
In addition to the check redeposit scheme, Yacoub also drafted checks from closed business accounts under the same company names. He deposited these into active accounts, withdrawing or attempting to withdraw funds before banks recognized the accounts were closed and held no balance.
As part of the plea deal, Yacoub has agreed to forfeit $181,540.51, the total amount of the losses resulting from the scheme. He now faces up to 30 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
The FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karyna Valdes is prosecuting the case.
