Michael Bonanno, 44, stole from several NYC residents and is now suffering the consequences. Bonanno is a former NYPD detective who was arrested on Tuesday for stealing bank account information while gaining $1.5 million to pay off his own financial debts.
Bonanno was working for the department for 16 years and was scheming to specifically pay his credit card and mortgage accounts. Authorities said he and a co-schemer, identified as Domenic Aiello were transferring stolen money from bank accounts of city residents to make deposits into their personal accounts.
Court papers revealed that the pair of thieves also drew fraudulent checks signed from victims’ accounts into accounts they controlled. With the use of the wire transfers, the duo was able to take $1,457,642 and collected checks worth approximately $68,900.
An FBI Assistant Director stated, “plain and simple, Michael Bonanno allegedly used other people’s money to pay off his debts while simultaneously serving as a police officer, charged with investigating criminal wrongdoing. We don’t allow the general public to get away with these types of crimes, and we won’t allow members of the law enforcement community to get away with them either.”
Ironically, Bonanno's job as a member of the NYPD Crime Stoppers unit required that he obtain and investigate anonymous tips about unlawful activity from members of the city. Now he is facing multiple charges sentencing him to at least 60-years in prison: on one count of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Source: nydailynews.com
