BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBMA) — A central Alabama man has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for his role as the “ringleader” in a multi-state bank fraud scheme involving fraudulent U.S. Treasury checks, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Eddarrius Tyjuan Wallace, 37, of York, Alabama, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Anna M. Manasco to 60 months in prison and fined $25,000. Wallace pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and bank fraud.
According to court documents, Wallace organized and managed the scheme between June and September 2023. Prosecutors said he recruited and trained other participants to fraudulently deposit and withdraw funds from U.S. Treasury checks in Alabama and Mississippi.
The investigation began after a Tuscaloosa bank reported in June 2023 that two Treasury checks bearing forged endorsements had been deposited. Authorities…
IT & DATA SECURITY (MITIGATING THE “INSIDER THREAT”)
As seen in the TD Bank case, an employee with too much “access” can sell your customer data to syndicates.
- Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP): Employees should only have access to the specific folders and databases required for their current task.
- Access Revocation: Have a “Termination Checklist” that ensures all digital access (Email, VPN, Banking) is revoked within 60 minutes of an employee resigning or being dismissed.
- System Logs & Audit Trails: Enable “Read/Write Logging” on your server. If a customer’s data is leaked, you need to know exactly which login accessed that record and at what time.
- Encryption at Rest: Ensure that sensitive files (like your customer ID numbers or payroll spreadsheets) are encrypted so that if a staff member copies them to a USB, they cannot be read.