Kersey Man Pleads Guilty to Bank Fraud

Man faces up to 30 years for checking account scam

1490NewsBlog – WESB
by Anne Holliday

A Kersey resident has pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

Authorities say 55-year-old Richard Raspatello started a checking account at National City Bank, then wrote checks to his co-defendant 23-year-old Joshua Atwell of Warren, knowing there were insufficient funds.

Atwell would then open an account at another bank and deposit some of the bad checks from Raspatello. Before those checks could be evaluated, Atwell would bring in other bad checks and cash them. Authorities said Atwell would keep a portion of the cash and return the rest to Raspatello.

Sentencing is scheduled for March 7. Raspatello faces up to 30 years in prison.