Woman Steals $881,324 by Obtaining and Altering Check From the Mail, Now Faces 30 Years Behind Bars

A woman from Kansas City, Missouri, is pleading guilty to committing bank fraud after altering the name of a stolen check and making away with hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In a new press release, the Department of Justice (DOJ) says that 34-year-old Aviance Shepard is pleading guilty to stealing a $881,324 check from the United Parcel Service’s (UPS) mail stream in March 2023, altering it, and opening a business account in the name of the check’s payee at a local bank to deposit the funds – ultimately stealing a sizeable portion of them.

Authorities say that on March 28th, 2023, Shepard obtained five cashier’s checks totaling $320,000 for herself and other people, also withdrawing $20,000 in cash from the newly created account.

But on March 27th, the payor discovered that the check was missing and issued a stop-payment order the same day. The bank did not receive the notice until after Shepard had already withdrawn $340,000 in cashier’s checks and cash from the account.

Though Shepard has yet to have her sentencing hearing scheduled, under federal statutes, she could receive a sentence of up to 30 years behind bars for committing bank fraud.

Last month, a Kansas accountant admitted to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from a client and disguising the theft as legitimate business expenses in a sophisticated check fraud scheme.

Between December 2021 and August 2022, Quintin Flanagin wrote multiple checks and initiated wire transfers to shift roughly $409,710 to an entity called Middle Finger Ranch, which he falsely described as a vendor for farm-related services.

In reality, the business was fictitious and tied directly to his personal bank account. The stolen funds were used to finance construction on his private residence.

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