CARTERSVILLE, Ga. – A former Cartersville manufacturing business owner faces federal bank and wire fraud charges after allegedly defrauding First Financial Bank out of more than $20 million through forged documents.
What we know:
Federal authorities arraigned 48-year-old Thomas Mwangi of Atlanta last week following a federal grand jury indictment charging him with two counts of bank fraud and 13 counts of wire fraud.
Mwangi, who owned and operated the Cartersville manufacturing company CAMaster, allegedly tricked First Financial Bank into approving $24 million in loans in 2023 to buy two Texas companies.
Federal prosecutors stated Mwangi falsified a brokerage statement to show $22 million in assets when he had less than $1 million, while also providing a forged document purporting to acknowledge the bank’s security interest.
After receiving the loan funds, Mwangi allegedly sent…
Cyber fraud uses technology as the primary weapon. It is highly scalable and can be conducted from anywhere in the world.
- Phishing/Smishing/Vishing: Using deceptive emails (phishing), text messages (smishing), or phone calls (vishing) to trick victims into clicking malicious links or revealing sensitive data.
- Business Email Compromise (BEC): A high-value scam where a criminal impersonates a CEO or high-level executive via a “spoofed” email address to trick a staff member into making an urgent, unauthorized wire transfer.