Opinion ID: 697244
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Check Scheme

Text: 5 In 1992, West entered into a contract for CNUSA to transport child-support checks from a Signet Bank branch in Maryland to a NationsBank branch, also in Maryland. 1 The Maryland Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) had originally opened an account at Signet Bank to hold child-support funds sent by various parties to be distributed to the guardians of the children. The agency later moved its account to NationsBank. Because some individuals continued to send their checks to Signet Bank, West was hired to transport the errant checks to NationsBank. 6 In November 1992, West, using a false name, opened an account at a Citibank branch in the District of Columbia in the name of Bureau of Support Enforcement, Client Collections. Over a period of several months, West deposited into this account $143,000 in child-support checks that he was supposed to deliver from Signet to NationsBank. West subsequently withdrew about $80,000 from this account. After discovering that the account was fraudulent, Citibank security officers contacted the United States Postal Inspector's Office, which investigated the matter. In July 1993, West and his attorney began discussing a pre-indictment plea with the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.