DOJ: Boston Man Pleads Guilty to Role in Bank Fraud Ring

• Shaw withdrew more than $900,000 from customer accounts using fake driver’s licenses and withdrawal slips.
• Six men were charged in a related multi-million-dollar bank fraud scheme spanning Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

William Shaw, age 68, pleaded guilty in federal court to four counts of bank fraud and four counts of aggravated identity theft, after impersonating at least 13 bank customers and withdrawing over $900,000 from their accounts between December 2022 and March 2025. He used fake driver’s licenses with real customer information and his own photo to facilitate the withdrawals.

In July 2025, six men were charged in a related investigation into a multi-million-dollar scheme targeting banks in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Several co-defendants have pleaded guilty or been sentenced, and the case involves collaboration among multiple law enforcement agencies.

• 13 bank customers impersonated
• $900,000 amount withdrawn from accounts
• 30 years maximum sentence for bank fraud

• Review customer identification procedures for detection of fake driver’s licenses similar to those used by William Shaw.
• Audit withdrawal processes for unusual activity involving cashier’s checks and cash withdrawals from multiple accounts.
• Cross-reference recent account takeover attempts with the list of affected banks in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

This case highlights the ongoing risks of identity theft and account takeover fraud targeting financial institutions. Compliance officers must ensure robust customer identification and transaction monitoring controls to detect impersonation attempts, especially those involving fake identification documents. The multi-state nature of the scheme and involvement of multiple perpetrators underscore the importance of information sharing and collaboration with law enforcement and peer institutions to prevent and respond to sophisticated fraud rings.