A Lakeland man has faced the weight of the law as he admits to engaging in systematic bank fraud. Abraham Othman Yacoub, aged 27, entered a guilty plea, accepting the consequences forthcoming from his deceitful financial maneuvers that could land him behind bars for as long as 30 years, though a sentencing date is yet to be scheduled.
United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made it know that from January 2021 to February 2023, Yacoub employed a fraudulent scheme to deceive various financial institutions. His tactic involved the same checks, previously deposited, being redeposited into multiple business banking accounts under his control. Entwined in this plot were Yacoub’s two entities, Visionary Auto Body LLC and Visionary Auto Care LLC, which he used as fronts in the Middle District of Florida.
These actions led the banks to mistakenly authorize funds in Yacoub's favor, which he promptly withdrew or spent before the institutions caught wind of the duplicity. The repercussion of such acts is sharp; aside from potential prison time, Yacoub has agreed to forfeit $181,540.51. This figure represents the sum total of the banks' losses directly connected to his fraudulent activities, as per the United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida.
The malicious financial orchestration also extended to writing bad checks from accounts that were long closed. Yacoub crafted business checks from these non-existent funds and attempted to collect before banks realized the underpinning accounts were devoid of capital. The Federal Bureau of Investigation dug into the weeds of Yacoub’s dealings, unearthing the tangled roots of his fraud. An Assistant United States Attorney, Karyna Valdes, now shoulders the burden of prosecution.
