Shreveport woman sentenced for leading bank fraud scheme

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — A Shreveport woman, who authorities say was the ringleader of a bank fraud conspiracy, has been sentenced.

24-year-old Destane Glass was sentenced to 135 months in prison for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. United States District Judge S. Maurice Hicks ordered that her sentence run consecutively to the 37-month federal prison sentence she is currently serving, bringing her total prison time to 14 years. Glass was indicted last year, along with 20 other defendants connected to the case.

According to the United States Attorney’s Office, Alexander C. Van Hook, Glass, and her co-conspirators conspired to commit bank fraud at USAA Savings Bank, Navy Federal Credit Union, and J.P. Morgan Chase Bank. Glass is said to have been the ringleader, directing and recruiting others to participate in the scheme.

Glass and the other defendants obtained account holder information to create counterfeit checks. She instructed her co-defendants to target elderly bank customers with high balances, as they were less likely to check their bank accounts regularly. Glass created counterfeit checks totaling $2,149,621 on USAA Bank from accounts accessed by her accomplices. Additionally, she used social media and other methods to recruit individuals in the Shreveport area, encouraging them to deposit the counterfeit checks into their bank accounts.

All of the other defendants charged in this case have now pleaded guilty and received their sentences.