Coraopolis Woman Pleads Guilty in Fraud Scheme Against Dwelling House Savings and Loan

PITTSBURGH—A resident of Coraopolis, Pennsylvania pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of bank fraud and money laundering, United States Attorney David J. Hickton announced today.

Elexa Manos‑Becton, 43, pleaded guilty to two counts before Senior United States District Judge Alan N. Bloch.

In connection with the guilty plea, the court was advised that Manos-Becton executed a scheme to defraud Dwelling House Savings and Loan (DHSL) of its assets using fraudulent Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions. Manos‑Becton opened a PayPal account and associated her DHSL bank accounts to the PayPal account. Using PayPal to initiate ACH transactions, she caused disbursements to be made from DHSL in amounts that far exceeded any balance she had in her accounts at DHSL. Those insufficient funds transactions were not rejected and reversed by DHSL personnel. The loss attributed to Manos‑Becton is at least $907,652. Manos‑Becton also was charged with money laundering transactions that used proceeds derived from the bank fraud for purchases. The court was advised that Manos‑Becton taught other persons about “the glitch” in Dwelling House’s bank procedures, which allowed non‑sufficient ACH transactions to be processed.

Judge Bloch scheduled sentencing for Sept. 29, 2011, at 1:30 p.m. The law provides for a total sentence of 500 years in prison, a fine of $14,750,000, or both. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the actual sentence imposed is based upon the seriousness of the offenses and the criminal history, if any, of the defendant.

Assistant United States Attorney Paul E. Hull is prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service and the City of Pittsburgh Bureau of Police conducted the investigation that led to the prosecution of Manos‑Becton.