California Residents Orchestrate $1,000,000+ Check Fraud Scheme on Facebook

Stolen checks worth more than $1 million have been funneled through bank accounts in a year-long fraud scheme organized on Facebook.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California says five Fresno residents pleaded guilty to roles in the operation that sought about $1 million from banks.

Zorian Temple, 25, entered his guilty plea on September 21st, 2026.

Davonntae Barfield, 31, Zion Brewer, 40, and Nyric Hinton, 28, pleaded guilty on August 17th, 2026, and Harry Cooper Neal, 30, pleaded guilty on August 31st, 2026.

Brewer worked for the U.S. Postal Service and stole checks from the mail between 2022 and 2023, and then handed them to the others.

The group recruited account holders or used their own accounts to deposit the stolen checks and withdraw cash before banks halted many of the payments.

Prosecutors say the defendants met and coordinated mainly through Facebook and Facebook Messenger.

The checks’ face value topped $1 million, but actual bank losses were a few hundred thousand dollars after most of the payments were detected and stopped.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston is set to sentence Neal on November 30th, 2026, Barfield, Brewer and Hinton on December 7th, 2026, and Temple on January 11st, 2027.

Each defendant faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000.

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