BATON ROUGE, LA—United States Attorney Walt Green of the Middle District of Louisiana announced that a federal grand jury has indicted RAPHEW T. REED, JR., age 30, of Ruston, Louisiana, with making false statements to a credit union, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1014, false representation of a Social Security number, in violation of Title 42, United States Code, Section 408(a)(7)(B), three counts of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, engaging in an unlawful money transaction, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1957, and making false statement, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001. If convicted, REED faces significant incarceration, fines, restitution, and supervised release following imprisonment. The Indictment also includes forfeiture allegations.

The Indictment alleges that REED engaged in fraudulent conduct for more than a year in 2012 and 2013. First, in or about May of 2012, REED knowingly made false statements to a federally-insured credit union in an attempt to obtain a loan. REED provided the credit union with a false Social Security number and documents that misrepresented his identity and income. Then, in another attempt to obtain money under false pretenses and representations, from late 2012 through April 2013, REED executed a scheme to defraud another company, which, on or about November 27, 2012, wired $125,000 to REED. REED fraudulently diverted the funds to his friends, family members, others to whom he owed money, and to another one of his own bank accounts. When the victim repeatedly asked REED to return the funds, as he had promised he would do, REED falsely represented to the victim that he was in the process of returning the company’s funds. In connection with this scheme, REED is alleged to have engaged in an unlawful monetary transaction, causing $18,950 of the proceeds from the fraudulent scheme to be wired from a bank account that he controlled in Texas to a second account located in the Middle District of Louisiana. Finally, according to the Indictment, in December of 2013, when REED was interviewed about the above-described conduct by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, he knowingly made a number of false statements.

U.S. Attorney Green stated: “Dishonest businesspeople undermine the integrity of our financial communities and erode the principles critical to a hospitable and fair business environment. Combatting financial crimes is thus a priority to my office, and we will continue to work diligently and aggressively with the FBI, SSA-OIG, and our other partners to combat such wrongdoing.”

This matter is being investigated by the Baton Rouge office of the FBI, which has received valuable assistance from the Social Security Administration’s Office of Inspector General. The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Alan A. Stevens, who serves as a deputy chief within the office’s Criminal Division.

NOTE: An indictment is an accusation by the Grand Jury. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless adjudicated guilty at trial or through a guilty plea.