Arthur J. Mollo, III Sentenced For Bank Fraud

Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Paula D. Silsby announced that Arthur J. Mollo, age 41, of Canaan, Maine, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 41 months in prison to be followed by 5 years of supervised release, including 6 months of community confinement. He was also ordered to pay $42,460.25 in restitution. The defendant pleaded guilty to an information charging him with bank fraud on December 20, 2006.

The information alleged that between about June and July, 2006, the defendant and others defrauded TD Banknorth (the successor in interest to Peoples Heritage Bank) by negotiating and causing to be negotiated more than $30,000 worth of counterfeit financial instruments, bearing forged signatures, drawn on the account of a company located in Bangor, Maine.

According to court records, the defendant and four other individuals cashed more than 60 counterfeit checks using the account information for a TD Banknorth customer. The counterfeit checks were negotiated at banks in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. The defendant had worked briefly for the Customer, and had been issued a paycheck for the work performed. The defendant and his four accomplices used a computer and a software program to manufacture counterfeit checks using information from that paycheck and thereafter negotiated the counterfeit checks at the banks.

United States Attorney Silsby praised the investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.