April 14, 2007

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  NEWS: OK Man Sentenced in Citibank Scam

   

  Wayne Baker will serve over six years in prison for his part in a credit card scam that ended up costing card issuer Citibank more than a million dollars, thanks to the sentencing of a federal judge. U.S. District Judge Claire Eagan ordered Baker last week to spend 78 months in federal lockup, to pay restitutions and fines of $400,001 and to give up his home, according to court officials in Oklahoma.
  
  Baker pleaded guilty to the two charges of bank fraud that he had incurred in September of last year after defrauding Citibank in Jacksonville, Florida. Baker and several cohorts were accused of applying for a slew of credit cards over the internet, using their own names and those of real businesses, but paired with fake social securities numbers and financial information. Baker and his co-defendants then used the purloined plastic for purchases, as well as to obtain cash advances at three tribal casinos and several Tulsa-area banking institutions.
  
  The scam went further, though: according to court paperwork filed with the district attorney, Baker and the rest made themselves legal owners or custodians of the businesses, ensuring that their names would be on the plastic along with the name of the business. Nine others have already been sentenced in connection with the fraud scheme: Tulsan James David Bradley, 46, 12 months and one day; Charlie Dennis Schubert, 27, of Tulsa, 15 months in prison; 21-year-old Tulsan Tony Don Davis, 15 months in prison; Jeffrey Don Hibbard, 43, of Tulsa, five months in prison, and Jason Edward Ethridge, 25, of Sapulpa, 13 months in prison
  
  
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