Rushell Harris, 32, of Nantucket and a former Nantucket Bank employee, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud on Friday in Federal District Court. U.S. District Court Judge Allison D. Burroughs scheduled sentencing for January 27, 2022. Harris was charged on September 16.
The charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a Federal District Court Judge.
According to the District of Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office, Harris engaged in two separate wire fraud conspiracies in the approximate time period of June 2014 and November 2018.
In the first conspiracy, they said Harris exploited her position at Nantucket Bank by obtaining personally identifiable information of a customer and deviously taking photographs of the victim’s account information. Harris then shared that information with co-conspirators who attempted to transfer funds out of the customer’s bank account without authorization.
Harris helped perpetuate a fraudulent lottery scheme targeting at least 13 victims in the second conspiracy, the attorney’s office said. According to the charging documents, victims were contacted by co-conspirators via phone and informed that they won large prizes. They told victims that in order to receive the funds they needed to pre-pay taxes on their winnings. Those prizes, of course, did not exist in reality.
After victims made an initial payment, they were advised that additional advance payments were required for expenses such as insurance, transportation or other international customs’ fees. Harris and her co-conspirators transferred proceeds of the scheme to associates in Jamaica and in the United States.
The announcement comes from Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Division, made the announcement. They added that the Nantucket Police Department played an important and valuable role in providing assistance that led to these charges and the eventual guilty pleas.
