A man who traveled from New Jersey to western Kentucky has been arrested after the McCracken County Sheriff’s Office said he used false information while trying to open accounts at multiple banks.
Simei Acosta-Fabian, 37, was taken into custody Sept. 18 after employees at a Citizens Deposit Bank branch in Kevil reported a customer who had been trying to open an account while claiming to live in the Paducah area.
WPSD Local 6, citing the sheriff’s office, reported that Acosta-Fabian entered the bank carrying a duffel bag. By the time McCracken County deputies arrived, he had left.
Deputies then learned that other financial institutions in the region had encountered a man seeking to open accounts under similar circumstances and that Acosta-Fabian was at another bank in neighboring Carlisle County.
Bank Employees Questioned the Application
The initial call came at about 4 p.m. from the Kevil bank on U.S. Highway 60.
KFVS, also citing the McCracken County Sheriff’s Office, reported that Acosta-Fabian presented identification from the Dominican Republic while claiming to live in the Paducah area. Deputies said the address he supplied was false.
Foreign identification by itself does not make an account application improper. Federal customer-identification rules require banks to obtain information including a customer’s name, date of birth, address and identification number, then use risk-based procedures to verify identity. The rules also contemplate government-issued identification for non-U.S. customers.
Here, deputies said the problem was the false information supplied with the applications.
Another Bank, One County Over
After Acosta-Fabian left the Kevil branch, McCracken County deputies learned that multiple financial institutions in the area had received similar account applications.
They also learned that he was at a bank in Carlisle County.
The McCracken County Sheriff’s Office contacted the Carlisle County Sheriff’s Office. Carlisle County deputies responded and detained Acosta-Fabian.
MCSO identified him as a Dominican Republic citizen and U.S. permanent resident who had traveled to the Paducah area from Trenton, New Jersey.
During an interview, the sheriff’s office said Acosta-Fabian admitted using false information on applications to open bank accounts at multiple locations.
Public reporting does not say how many applications were submitted, whether any account was successfully opened, or what deputies believe Acosta-Fabian intended to do with the accounts.
Two Counties, Two Forgery Charges
The Carlisle County Sheriff’s Office charged Acosta-Fabian with second-degree forgery for the conduct authorities say occurred in that county.
He was then transported to the McCracken County Jail.
Booking data reported by the McCracken County Regional Jail shows Acosta-Fabian, 37, was booked at 8 p.m. Sept. 18 on a second-degree forgery charge. The record lists the McCracken County Sheriff’s Department as the arresting agency and case FJ14079.
McCracken County authorities filed a second forgery charge stemming from the Kevil incident, according to the sheriff’s account reported by KFVS.
Under Kentucky law, a person commits second-degree forgery when, with intent to defraud, deceive, or injure, the person falsely makes, completes, or alters certain written instruments. The statute includes contracts, commercial instruments and other documents capable of affecting a legal right, interest, obligation or status.
Second-degree forgery is a Class D felony.
The publicly available accounts do not identify the specific document prosecutors contend was forged or specify which statements on the application form form the basis of the two charges.
All parties are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.