From Mailbox To Money: Crips Member Sentenced In $2.8M Bank Fraud Plot
By CU Today Staff —
LOS ANGELES—A member of the South Los Angeles-based Crips street gang has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison for his role in a $2.8-million bank fraud scheme that used stolen and altered checks, along with social media, to recruit accomplices and drain bank accounts before financial institutions could detect the fraud, the Department of Justice reported.
Chase Matthew Griffin, 26, also known as "Trey," was sentenced to 108 months in prison after pleading guilty in March to conspiracy to commit bank fraud. U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton also ordered Griffin to pay $307,386 in restitution. Prosecutors said Griffin has been in federal custody since September 2025.
According to prosecutors, Griffin and his co-conspirators stole checks from the mail between 2022 and September 2025, altered or counterfeited them, then used Instagram to recruit bank account holders willing to provide access to their accounts. The group deposited fraudulent checks—often worth tens of thousands of dollars—and quickly withdrew the money through cash withdrawals, electronic transfers and purchases before banks could identify the fraud.
Investigators cited one December 2023 incident in which three checks totaling approximately $84,490 were stolen after being mailed from a U.S. Postal Service collection box in Tarzana. The checks were altered and deposited into JPMorgan Chase accounts belonging to people other than the intended recipients. Authorities later traced the deposits and subsequent withdrawals, Zelle and Cash App transfers, airline ticket purchases and casino transactions back to Griffin.
Originally reported by CU Today.