Kathleen Littleford, 76, a Bristol, Virginia woman fraudulently opened several bank accounts, deposited counterfeit checks, and shipped large quantities of cash overseas. She did this to help a man, calling himself Frank Peterson, with whom she was involved in an online relationship. She also fraudulently transferred funds from other banking institutions.
Littleford engaged in frequent emailing, text messaging, Facebook messaging, and phone call communications with Frank Peterson. Frank Peterson told her that he made a lot of money in a trade deal in Dubai, and that those funds were encumbered by the IRS due to taxes he owed, that he had a lot of money tied up in stocks, and that he needed Littleford’s help receiving funds from banking institutions because he could not transfer money himself, due to the IRS claims on his accounts.
Over time, Littleford opened accounts with at least five local banks and fraudulently received move than $190,000 in funds to which she was not entitled.
She waived her right to be indicted and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to execute a scheme to defraud financial institutions to obtain money by false pretenses.
Source: Department of Justice, Western District of Virginia.
