Buffalo woman sentenced for bank fraud

U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced on Monday that Jayme Smith, 35, of Buffalo, New York, who was convicted of bank fraud, was sentenced to time served and two years’ supervised by U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny.

The defendant was also ordered to pay $20,100 to the victims of the offense.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric M. Opanga, who handled the case, stated that in early 2011, the defendant executed a scheme to defraud various financial institutions.

Smith, with the assistance of other individuals, created approximately $564,000 worth of counterfeit checks drawn on four separate business accounts held at four different financial institutions.

The defendant made these counterfeit checks payable to various individuals across the United States and subsequently mailed the checks to these individuals.

All the checks created were counterfeit, and six were successfully negotiated with various financial institutions resulting in losses of over $20,000.

Smith purchased check printing software, a printer, and check stock to create the counterfeit checks.

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Christopher M. Piehota.