A federal grand jury in Oakland has indicted Franchesca Calagui, 25, and Dondre Gray, 27, both from Emeryville, California. They face charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud. Additionally, Calagui is charged with the receipt of a U.S. Treasury check with a forged endorsement or signature.
The indictment reveals that between May 2022 and March 2023, Calagui and Gray allegedly conspired to acquire stolen U.S. Treasury checks. They recruited others to fraudulently endorse these checks and handed them over to Calagui for cashing at JP Morgan Chase Bank where she worked as a part-time associate banker.
Text messages included in the indictment show discussions between Gray and Calagui about the scheme. In one exchange, Gray stated: “I definitely don’t wanna scam with chase since you work there,” to which Calagui replied: “I do not care if u scam us lmao.” The defendants are accused of cashing at least 339 stolen U.S. Treasury checks totaling over $850,000.
The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Patrick D. Robbins along with several special agents from various federal agencies including the FBI, TIGTA, IRS-CI, FDIC-OIG, USPIS, VA OIG, and SSA OIG.
Both defendants are charged under multiple counts related to bank fraud statutes. They were arrested and appeared in federal district court recently. Their next court appearance is scheduled for April 3, 2025.
It is important to note that an indictment merely alleges a crime has been committed; all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted on all counts, each defendant could face up to 30 years in prison and fines up to $1 million per count.
Special Assistant United States Attorney Cynthia Johnson is leading the prosecution with assistance from Amala James following an investigation by multiple federal agencies.