U.S. Department of Justice Marcos Daniel Jiménez United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida
	99 N.E. 4th Street Miami, FL 33132 (305) 961-9001

DEFENDANT INDICTED ON CONSPIRACY,
BANK FRAUD, AND MONEY LAUNDERING CHARGES

Marcos Daniel Jiménez, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Michael S. Clemens, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation; Brian J. Wimpling, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations; and William T. Sims, Special Agent in Charge, United States Secret Service, announced today that on September 28, 2004, a federal grand jury sitting in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida returned a seventeen (17) count Superseding Indictment against defendant, Mark Ingram. The Superseding Indictment charges Ingram with one (1) count of conspiring to commit bank fraud and money laundering in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371; eleven (11) counts of bank fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344; and five (5) counts of money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1957.

The Superseding Indictment charges Ingram with conspiring to commit bank fraud and money laundering from September 1999 through March 2001. Ingram, as alleged in the Superseding Indictment, engaged in a fraudulent scheme with others to obtain stolen, counterfeit, and forged checks from numerous companies and arranged to have the checks cashed through others, and deposited and cashed the checks himself.

A check in the amount of $150,000, which was the subject of Ingram’s scheme, also involved David Forbes, Jr., who was prosecuted in a separate case. On May 20, 2004, Forbes pleaded guilty to charges of bank fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1344; and money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1956. On August 31, 2004, United States District Court Judge Kenneth A. Marra, at a hearing held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, sentenced Forbes to a term of imprisonment of seventy-seven (77) months.

If convicted, Ingram faces a maximum statutory sentence of thirty (30) years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to $1 million on each bank fraud charge, twenty (20) years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to the greater of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction on each money laundering charge, and five (5) years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000 on the conspiracy charge.

Mr. Jiménez commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, and United States Secret Service. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Laurie E. Rucoba.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

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