MIAMI, Fla. (CBS12) — A Miami man was sentenced for fraud on Friday after the FBI found 450 stolen accounts and fake IDs inside a padlocked room.
According to the Department of Justice, 33-year-old McKenzie Monestine pleaded guilty in December to possessing over 15 unauthorized access devices and aggravated identity theft, stemming from a 2020 FBI investigation.
He was sentenced to 55 months in prison with three years of supervised release on Friday.
The charges reportedly stemmed from a 2020 FBI investigation.
In June 2020, the FBI executed a search warrant at Monestine’s home, where they found evidence of large-scale fraud inside a padlocked room.
Agents say they located social security numbers, account passwords, driver license numbers, phone numbers, bank account numbers, credit and debit card numbers, and dates of birth belonging to other individuals.
Most of the fraud was allegedly…
THE TD BANK INSIDER “BRIBE-FOR-DATA” SCHEME (USA)
Date: February 17, 2026 Perpetrator: Edward Low (Former Bank Employee)
Case Description: In a high-profile case of “Insider Threat,” Edward Low, a former employee of TD Bank in New York, pleaded guilty in a New Jersey federal court to accepting bribes in exchange for confidential customer data. Between 2021 and 2022, Low leveraged his internal access to harvest the personal details of high-balance account holders. He then sold this “hot data” to external fraud syndicates for as little as $26,700 in personal kickbacks.
The external fraudsters used the information Low provided to conduct “Account Takeovers” (ATO), creating fraudulent checks and falsifying bank records to drain over $500,000 from unsuspecting customers. Low even went as far as helping co-conspirators open shell company accounts at a second financial institution where he was later employed. He now faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. This case has sent shockwaves through the global banking sector, highlighting that even the most robust external firewalls cannot protect against a “rogue insider” with administrative credentials.
Link to Original: US Dept of Justice – TD Bank Insider Plea