A Colorado Statewide Grand Jury has indicted 27-year-old Stephanie Laugier and 29-year-old Thierno Barry, each on 37 felony counts, including organized crime and racketeering, accusing the pair of running a bank fraud operation that stretched across six local jurisdictions in the state. Investigators say Laugier used forged state identification cards to impersonate real bank customers and drain their Home Equity Lines of Credit through cash withdrawals and bank-issued checks.
The indictment, announced by the Colorado Attorney General's Office, followed an investigation that began after a resident reported suspicious activity. According to the office, checks obtained through the scheme were overnighted to out-of-state associates to be cashed or deposited, helping move stolen funds beyond Colorado before they could be traced.
Prosecutors say the alleged fraud reached financial institutions in seven Colorado communities — Arvada, Denver, Dillon, Littleton, Lone Tree, Longmont and Parker — with the incidents occurring during the summer of 2025. That geographic spread, from Summit County's mountain town of Dillon down to metro Denver suburbs, underscores the case's statewide scope.
How Much Money Was Stolen
The Colorado Attorney General's Office says the scheme resulted in more than $800,000 in actual stolen funds and over $300,000 in attempted losses within the state, pushing total attempted and completed theft past $1.1 million. As part of the alleged operation, investigators say the suspects also used stolen personal identifying information to file fraudulent business entities through the Colorado Secretary of State's online filing system, with filings occurring around the same time as the bank thefts and without the knowledge of the people whose identities were used.
CBS News Colorado covered the indictment of two defendants in connection with bank-fraud cases across six Colorado jurisdictions. According to 9NEWS, Laugier has since been arrested in Louisiana, while Barry remained at large as of October.
Why the State Took the Case
Statewide grand juries in Colorado are authorized under state law to investigate and prosecute organized crime and complex financial offenses that cross judicial district lines, which is the framework for statewide grand-jury proceedings, per the Colorado Attorney General. The framework provides a statewide process for investigating offenses that cross judicial district lines.
The case lands amid a broader surge in financial fraud nationally and in Colorado specifically. FBI data shows financial and cyber fraud cost Colorado victims over $243.5 million in 2024 across nearly 15,000 reports, placing the state 7th nationwide in per-capita fraud complaints, with residents aged 60 and older losing more than $74 million. Nationally, total reported cybercrime and financial fraud losses reached $20.9 billion in 2025, driven in part by a rise in account takeover and identity theft schemes, according to the ABA Banking Journal.
What Comes Next
Federal statutes governing bank fraud and wire fraud carry penalties of up to 30 years imprisonment and fines reaching $1,000,000 per count when financial institutions are targeted, according to Tenth Circuit opinions outlining the legal exposure in major bank fraud cases. Barry's whereabouts remained unknown as of the indictment's announcement.
