STRATEGIC PARTNERS
February 27, 2002
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- Five members of a St. Paul family accused of running a scam to steal money from ATMs at casinos were indicted on charges of bank fraud and money laundering, according to the Associated Press.
A federal grand jury in Minneapolis charged Kenneth A. Norris, 26, Alice L. Norris, 29, Demetrice R. Norris, 24, Germany D. Norris, 36, and Robin E. Brown, 38, with fraudulently withdrawing about $800,000 from U.S. Bank ATMs between April 1998 and February 2000.
Kenneth Norris also was indicted on charges of witness tampering for allegedly threatening two women involved in the scheme.
The family allegedly recruited more than 80 people to open bank accounts with $100 provided by the family. Once the accounts were established, the defendants allegedly used the newly-acquired ATM cards to make fraudulent deposits using checks from other closed bank accounts that they controlled, mostly on Friday nights after the bank had closed.
The next day family members drove recruits to casinos in Minnesota and Wisconsin, according to the indictment, where they used the cards to withdraw as much as $2,800 from each machine in a casino until accounts were frozen.
The accused family members will make an initial appearance before a magistrate judge later this month. The indictments are the result of a four-month investigation by police, the FBI and a bank investigator.
According to U.S. Bank officials, the bank's security system has been upgraded since the fraud was discovered.
