![\"District](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/C67FX52MYFAPLIN26FFUWZQ2OI.jpeg\")
In this Nov. 12, 2025 photo, District Attorney Michael E. McMahon and the Staten Island Fentanyl and Overdose Task Force reveals its legislative agenda during a news conference. (Advance\/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel)<\/p>\nSTATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Eleven individuals were arrested in connection with a gang-linked check-washing scheme and financial conspiracy that operated on Staten Island, prosecutors allege. <\/p>\n
An investigation spearheaded by the Staten Island district attorney\u2019s office and the Staten Island Narcotics Major Case Team determined that over several months in 2023 and 2024, several participants in the conspiracy sought to bilk over a half a million dollars from more than a dozen financial institutions, authorities announced.<\/p>\n
The defendants \u2014 at least some of them alleged members or associates of the OS and 400 gangs in New Brighton \u2014 were arrested this week on various fraud and grand larceny-related charges in what officials described as a \u201cmulti-faceted\u201d operation. <\/p>\n
Two of the defendants\u2019 names were redacted in court documents, though it was not immediately clear why.<\/p>\n
Among those charged were:<\/p>\n
Elijah McCall, 32, aka Eli, of Concord;Eqwone Forbes, 27, aka QB, of Concord;Ransford Agyeman-Budu, aka Rdot, of New Brighton; John Meade, 23, aka Christ Bot, of Mariners Harbor;Quintrell Villegas, 20, aka QPop; of New Brighton;Nacerima Bannister, 21; of New Brighton;Jamiel Ross, 39; who has addresses in New Brighton and West Brighton;Ronald Crooks, 30, of New Brighton; Veronica Chemountd, 21, of New Brighton.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the defendants were arraigned by Justice Alexander B. Jeong in state Supreme Court, St. George. They pleaded not guilty to the charges. <\/p>\n
Each of their roles in the \u201cmulti-faceted\u201d scheme varied, court documents alleged. <\/p>\n
\u2018Multi-faceted scheme\u2019<\/p>\n
There were two groups or networks of individuals targeted by police. <\/p>\n
Within each network, there were two individuals who acquired bank account information and forged\/stolen checks by various means, including through the mail and the dark web, prosecutors said. They would then recruit people to set up bank accounts, where the forged checks could be deposited, according to the indictments. <\/p>\n
McCall, Forbes, Agyeman-Budu and Meade were identified in court documents as the recruiters in the scheme. <\/p>\n
The other defendants were accused of setting up bank accounts in their names for the deposits, while communicating with their recruiters about how the money would be taken out and the split in proceeds. <\/p>\n
Each check was worth thousands of dollars, and in many cases tens of thousands of dollars, prosecutors said. <\/p>\n
Primarily using mobile deposits and online banking applications, the defendants were able to withdraw the stolen funds before the respective financial institutions could recognize the fraud and cancel the transaction, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n
Some of the stolen checks belonged to out-of-town businesses including Phantoms Hockey LLC and Gateway Industrial Services, court documents indicated. <\/p>\n
Over the course of the investigation, detectives obtained several text messages exchanged between some of the defendants in regard to bank information and checks clearing from certain accounts, according to a Dec. 1 indictment. <\/p>\n
In one instance, a defendant posted an image of a bank card on Instagram presumably as a flex, then defrauded that same bank hours later, according to the police investigation. <\/p>\n
One top law enforcement official said the proceeds funded \u201cextravagant\u201d lifestyles for some of the defendants. <\/p>\n
\u2018Violent outfit\u2019: D.A. McMahon<\/p>\n
District Attorney Michael E. McMahon and NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch announced the arrests in a press release. <\/p>\n
\u201cThese defendants brazenly defrauded hundreds of thousands of dollars to finance one of the most violent crime outfits on Staten Island,\u201d said McMahon. <\/p>\n
In this Nov. 12, 2025 photo, District Attorney Michael E. McMahon and the Staten Island Fentanyl and Overdose Task Force reveals its legislative agenda during a news conference. (Advance\/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel)<\/p>\n
\u201cThis investigation and today\u2019s announcement send a clear message that no quarter will be given to gang members here on Staten Island.\u201d <\/p>\n
Tisch stated in part:<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the course of ten months, the defendants allegedly carried out an organized fraud scheme … that bankrolled their criminal enterprise.\u201d <\/p>\n
OS, 400 gangs <\/p>\n
OS, aka the Original Stackboys, have in the past claimed a section of Jersey Street near Richmond Terrace, referred to as \u201cdown the block.\u201d <\/p>\n
400 has been known to claim a section of Jersey Street near Victory Boulevard, referred to as \u201cup the block.\u201d <\/p>\n
The two gang have in some cases over the years been at odds, while in other cases operated in concert in carrying out various crimes on Staten Island, according to Advance\/SILive.com archives. <\/p>\n
![\"Shooting](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/LU5PYQVAANGG7GJBYO3IPGC2KM.jpeg\")
In this 2021 photo, police respond to the fatal shooting of a 400 member inside a deli at 20 Westervelt Ave. between Richmond Terrace and Carroll Place. <\/p>\n
The gangs\u2019 criminal endeavors over the years have included drug dealing, credit card fraud and robberies.<\/p>\n
But as time has proven, gang life typically ends in one of two ways. <\/p>\n
In 2021, a prolific and beloved shot-caller within the OS crew \u2014 referred to by one friend as the \u201cCEO of OS records\u201d \u2014 was killed in Mariners Harbor by a rival gang member. <\/a><\/p>\n