On February 13, 2018, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman announced that NYPD Detective Michael Bonanno had been arrested and charged in connection with a scheme to use stolen bank account numbers to make payments on his home mortgage and credit card accounts.
Domenic Aiello, a longtime associate of Bonanno, was also charged.
According to the criminal complaint, Aiello admitted that he stole bank account numbers out of the mail and used them to make payments into Bonanno’s accounts.
The alleged bank fraud scheme
From November 2016 to March 2017, Bonanno and Aiello allegedly attempted to steal $1,457,642 by making unauthorized wire transfers from victims’ bank accounts into accounts controlled by Bonanno.
They also allegedly deposited around $69,000 worth of forged checks into Bonanno’s accounts.
At the time, Bonanno was a member of the NYPD Crime Stoppers unit, and Aiello was unemployed.
The government’s evidence
Bonanno and Aiello allegedly made more than twenty telephone payments on Bonanno’s mortgage and credit card accounts using stolen account information.
Some of the calls were recorded by the banks.
For example, in November 2016, Bonanno used his cellphone to call his bank to make a payment on his credit card. His card had a balance of $2,930 at the time. Bonanno stated that he wanted to pay the balance on his card. He then passed the phone to Aiello, who introduced himself as “Ronald Aiello”, the name of his deceased father. Aiello then provided a stolen bank account number.
None of the victims knew Bonanno and Aiello. One victim was described as a large physicians’ organization.
Bonanno and Aiello were aware that many of the attempted fraudulent transfers were frozen or reversed by banks, but they continued to attempt to make more transfers.
The defendants allegedly cashed at least fifteen checks with stolen account numbers. Bonanno was captured in bank surveillance footage depositing some of the stolen checks.
In March 2017, an NYPD detective called Bonanno about transfers from the physicians organization’s account to his mortgage account. Bonanno allegedly told the detective that he had let a friend put money in his accounts, and he believed the funds were from legitimate sources. He also asked the detective not to tell his supervisor about his involvement.
The criminal charges
Bonanno and Aiello have each been charged with one count of bank fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft.
The bank fraud and conspiracy charges each carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. The identity theft charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison.
Bonanno’s trial is set to begin on February 4, 2019.
Update: Aiello pled guilty on December 20, 2018.