Townhall87%
Gang Member's Instagram Cash Flexes Unravel $2.8M Fraud Ring 4%
By Scott McClallen28%
7/17/2026, 9:00:27 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 7 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Emotion, Indoctrination, and Attempt to Sell a Product or Service, with Biased Writer Voice as the most egregious example at 9.5% saturation with 44 hits. Analysis detected 182 faulty-reasoning hits from 465 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 17.4% and a BS Rank of 4% (17,018 of 17,596 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 96.70% of the article peer group.
A member of the South Los Angeles-based Crips street gang was sentenced to 108 months in federal prison for a $2.8 million scheme in which he stole checks in the mail, altered them, then used Instagram to recruit bank account holders to give him access to their accounts so he could deposit the checks and quickly withdraw the funds before banks could detect the fraud.
Chase Matthew Griffin, 26, a.k.a.
“Trey,” of Atlanta, who also resided in Ontario and South Los Angeles, was sentenced by United States District Judge Josephine L.
Staton, who also ordered him to pay $307,386 in restitution.
Griffin pleaded guilty on March 5 to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
He has been in federal custody since September 2025.
According to court documents, from 2022 to September 2025, Griffin participated in a criminal conspiracy in which he and others obtained checks stolen from the mail, then altered them or created counterfeit versions so they appeared to be payable to their accomplices.
After he recruited an accomplice, Griffin and his co-conspirators deposited these fraudulent checks, which were typically for tens of thousands of dollars, into the accomplice’s bank account, then raced to withdraw the funds before the bank could detect the fraud.
For example, in December 2023, a North Hollywood business reported to law enforcement that it had mailed three checks totaling approximately $84,490 from a United States Postal Service collection box in Tarzana.
However, the checks were stolen and then deposited into JPMorgan Chase accounts not belonging to the intended recipients.
The business representative provided images of the checks that had been deposited and confirmed the listed payee on each check had been changed from the intended recipient.
A law enforcement review of a Chase bank account where one of those checks was deposited revealed a previous deposit of approximately $22,487 made at an ATM in Upland.
This check, along with another check for approximately $29,081, was stolen and used to create counterfeit checks with the same date, check number, and amount as the original, but with different payees.
The money was quickly withdrawn from the account and used for ATM withdrawals, Zelle and CashApp payments, a plane ticket, and card purchases at a San Bernardino County casino.
Law enforcement later traced the scheme to Griffin.
The United States Postal Inspection Service investigated this matter with assistance from the Upland Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorney Andrew Brown of the Major Frauds Section prosecuted this case.
Editor’s Note: Do you enjoy Townhall’s conservative reporting that takes on the radical Left and woke media?
Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
Join Townhall VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Analysis
Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.