A man from the Bronx, New York, has been sentenced in a Rhode Island court for his role in a bank fraud conspiracy. Paul Keenan, aged 54, was sentenced to 24 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release by U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell, Jr. Keenan was charged and arrested in August 2024 and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in February.
Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom announced the sentencing. According to court documents, Keenan collaborated with others to recruit individuals and gather their photographs and personal identifying information (PII). This information was used to create fraudulent IDs featuring the conspirators’ photos alongside the recruits’ PII.
The scheme involved obtaining PII from at least 28 individuals and information from at least 20 business entities. The collected data was used to produce fake IDs and checks. Conspirators traveled with recruits across Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and eight other states to cash these counterfeit checks.
The total attempted fraud amounted to approximately $143,000, with successful defrauding of twenty-two banks totaling about $93,200.
Assistant United States Attorney Christine Lowell prosecuted the case with assistance from Assistant United States Attorney Sandra Hebert. The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations and the East Providence Police Department, with support from the Portsmouth Police Department.
