‘Worked as a team:’ Report details Yulee man’s arrest in several bank fraud cases
A Yulee man with nine outstanding warrants has been charged in an attempt to defraud a bank using stolen identification.
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In a Nassau County Sheriff’s arrest warrant obtained by Action News Jax, details show how Matthew Christopher Volpe and Rosana Whitaker committed fraud at several area banks.
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On Jan. 25, 2024, both suspects walked into a First Federal Bank in Fernandina Beach. According to the report, Volpe gave an ID card with someone else’s name and a check to deposit to the teller. A total of $7,760.34 was immediately withdrawn from the account. They took the money and walked out.
An employee contacted the victim whose account was compromised and advised him of the crime.
Through facial recognition software, Volpe and Whitaker were identified from bank surveillance footage.
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Law enforcement learned that Volpe was currently in Alachua County Jail on drug charges.
The warrant details several other banks where Volpe and Whitaker used the same tactics to cash checks and withdraw money using IDs that weren’t their own.
The report also mentions two incidents at Prime South Bank in Fernandina Beach and one at the First Port City Bank in Nassau County. Another fraud at a Gainesville bank was also noted and both Volpe and Whitaker were identified through the same facial recognition technology.
The National Crime Information Center (NCIC) revealed that Volpe has nine outstanding warrants in several states.
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The warrant stated that Whitaker’s criminal history consists of 29 felony charges with 12 felony convictions which include burglary, escape, criminal mischief, resisting with violence, depriving an officer of a weapon or radio, using/displaying a weapon during a felony, and several drug offenses.
Volpe was rearrested in prison and charged with criminal use of personal identification information, uttering, grand theft, and organized fraud.
Action News Jax is still looking into Whitaker’s role and for a possible arrest record.
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