Franck Davidoff and Dwight Pearson have been sentenced after pleading guilty to a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme that resulted in a loss of over $2,000,000 to Synchrony Bank.
“These two defendants not only harmed the bank, but the pair also victimized countless businesses and individuals by stealing their information and posing as them to perpetrate a massive bank fraud scheme,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine.“We warn others who might follow their example that this conduct will be prosecuted.”
“The defendants in this case deliberately defrauded scores of innocent citizens out of millions of dollars for their own personal gain,” said U.S. Secret Service Special Agent in Charge Steven Baisel. “With the help of our local law enforcement partners at the Duluth PD, we were able to successfully end their criminal enterprise.”
According to Acting U.S. Attorney Erskine, the charges and other information presented in court: From January 2017 until they were arrested in October 2018, Franck Davidoff and Dwight Pearson conspired to defraud Synchrony Bank in a complicated fraud scheme that netted them over $2 million. The scheme involved using stolen corporate information to open merchant bank accounts at Synchrony Bank.
Specifically, in June 2018, Davidoff and Pearson opened a merchant account with Synchrony Bank in the name “S&G Carpet Stores,” a real business that operates in the state of Florida and used S&G Carpet’s CEO’s information to open the account. At the time the account was created, the pair directed the bank to transfer any funds deposited into the S&G Carpet account into a separate merchant account opened in their own names.
The pair then established $600,000 worth of lines of credit for 57 individuals whose information they stole. The lines of credit appeared to be advance financing for large purchases from S&G Carpet. Once the money was deposited into the S&G Carpet account, it was immediately transferred to the secondary account. Davidoff and Pearson conducted this scheme multiple times using multiple businesses. They targeted businesses in Florida for the merchant accounts. They also targeted residents in a wealthy neighborhood in Florida to use for the fake lines of credit.
For this conduct, they were charged with a wire fraud conspiracy to defraud Synchrony Bank, 13 counts of wire fraud, and seven counts of aggravated identity theft. Each pled guilty to the wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft.
Franck Davidoff, 34, of Milton, Georgia, has been sentenced to six years, six months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,379,178.19. Davidoff was convicted of these charges on March 22, 2021, after he pleaded guilty.
Dwight Pearson, 49, of Johns Creek, Georgia, has been sentenced to seven years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $2,379,178.19. Pearson was convicted of these charges on May 17, 2019, after he pleaded guilty.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and the Duluth Police Department.
Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane C. Schulman and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassandra Schansman prosecuted the case.
