Weymouth man sentenced to federal prison for bank fraud and identity theft

A Weymouth man was sentenced to almost 10 years in federal prison for conspiring to commit bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and criminal contempt while on pretrial release, Maine U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee said in a news release.

Bernard Gadson, 31, of Weymouth, was sentenced to 110 months in prison and four years of supervised release by Chief U.S. District Judge Jon D. Levy in Portland, Maine, federal court.

Gadson was also ordered to pay $243,341 in restitution. He pleaded guilty Oct. 25, 2021.

According to court records, beginning in about December 2018, Gadson oversaw a scheme to defraud banks and credit unions throughout New England. He obtained the names and personal identifying information of people with good credit scores, then co-conspirators applied for unsecured personal loans in those names.

Gadson obtained fake identification documents, including driver’s licenses, bearing the names of the stolen identities with a photograph of a co-conspirator as well as bogus pay stubs and lease agreements to support the fraudulent loan applications, prosecutors said.

In January 2019, people working for Gadson tried to obtain a $20,000 loan from KeyBank in Kittery, Maine. A loan officer at KeyBank became suspicious and alerted local law enforcement.

While on bail pending trial, Gadson orchestrated fraudulent loan applications to financial institutions in Minnesota. He also traveled extensively outside Maine without the approval of his probation officer in violation of his conditions of release.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Kittery Police Department investigated the case.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Weymouth man sentenced to prison for fraud and identity theft in Maine