Sentencing Scheduled for Marina del Rey Man Accused of Bank Fraud

A 49-year-old Marina del Rey man who was charged in March 2012 for allegedly bilking banks out of more than $600,000 in a credit card scheme will be sentenced in May.

A federal jury last year returned a guilty verdict for Johnny Stewart of Marina del Rey along with two other men, including his brother Clayton Stewart, 45 and Dexter Hardy, 45, charging them with conspiracy, bank fraud, access device fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering.

The trio allegedly requested credit cards be sent to addressed they established using real and fictitious names, according to court documents. After receiving the cards, they made unauthorized purchases and withdrawals, totaling about $600,000.

Additionally, the men created fake businesses to open merchant bank accounts and then proceeded to process individual fraudulent transactions with the credit cards acquired, ranging from $103 to $6,400.

The banks involved were Chase Bank, Bank of America and Capital One Bank. 

In a similar scheme involving bank fraud, Clayton Stewart was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison in February 2008 for a similar scheme involving bank fraud. He was released from custody in September 2010.

Johnny Stewart is expected to be sentenced sometime in May.