Multistate forgery ring suspects head to trial in Allegheny County bank thefts

Early this year, police broke up what they said was a multistate crime ring of document forgers and identity thieves who swindled thousands of dollars from personal bank accounts in Southwestern Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Kentucky.

Four thieves hailing from New York, Indiana and Delaware drove a rented car from bank to bank in Allegheny County in January, presented tellers with doctored IDs and Social Security cards, then walked out with cash, police said.

“They fabricated those documents — this is a sophisticated crime ring,” one of the alleged victims, a 60-year-old Greensburg man, told TribLive this week. “You’ve really got to watch yourself and be vigilant of how you conduct yourself. It’s crazy.”

Now the cases are heading to trial in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. Three of the four defendants were formally arraigned earlier this month.

Police arrested the group Jan. 19 after they said the thieves stole nearly $13,000 from an Altoona-area woman’s account at a First National Bank in Sewickley. They also hit banks in Moon and Bethel Park over three days.

Facing charges are Andreas Andreou, 45, hometown unknown; Alisha Gabbard, 39, of Indianapolis; Elias Marte, 33, of New York City’s Bronx borough; and Lamott Matthews, 36, of Wilmington, Del.

All but Gabbard were arraigned July 2. Gabbard is in custody in Connecticut.

It remains unclear whether police have identified a ringleader.

Matthews collected the cash the ID thieves stole from banks, police said. Marte drove the Jeep and set up the team members in area hotels, according to investigators.

‘Correct identification’

The group’s undoing can be traced to a January morning, when a middle-aged man with a gray beard and dark mustache walked into a First National Bank in Sewickley, according to a criminal complaint in the case.

With a fake Pennsylvania ID card and a Social Security number that matched information the bank had about the Altoona-area woman, the man withdrew $5,000 from her account, according to court papers.

Shelly Holmes, branch manager at the bank on Beaver Street, later told police she found the man suspicious. But she said he had the “correct identification” for the woman — and the right Social Security number, according to police.

The man returned later that day and withdrew an additional $7,600, the complaint said. He told bankers he wanted to buy jewelry.

The next day, a second thief — a woman in a puffy white jacket — got stumped when a teller at the same bank, prompted by a computer alert, asked her for the account’s password, the complaint said.

The woman walked out without the money and got into a white Jeep Grand Wagoneer with Virginia plates. The driver tried to speed away, but Sewickley police were nearby and gave chase, stopping the Jeep less than a mile from the bank.

Inside the vehicle were multiple bogus IDs and five people — including the man who made the withdrawals the day before, police said.

A fifth person in the Jeep, a 25-year-old Coraopolis man, was not charged.

Municipal and county police have declined to comment on the case.

Holmes, the bank manager, declined to talk with TribLive about the crimes — or explain why one of her tellers allowed a man to withdraw cash from an account belonging to a woman.

A First National Bank spokesperson didn’t respond this week to multiple phone calls and emails seeking comment.

Other cases

Andreou had previous run-ins with law enforcement.

Police in Newport, Ky., which sits across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, arrested Andreou on June 14, 2023, in an identity theft case there, said court staff from Campbell County, Ky. He pleaded guilty three months later to possessing forged instruments and drug paraphernalia.

In October, when Andreou didn’t attend a court proceeding, police issued a warrant for his arrest, court staff said. He remained at large until his arrest in Sewickley.

Andreou also was charged in an identity theft case in Delaware Township, Northumberland County. Residents whose bank accounts had been drained by thieves alerted Pennsylvania State Police, according to Trooper Sara Barrett.

The charge was withdrawn during a May preliminary hearing in front of a Northumberland County district judge, court records show. The district attorney’s office there confirmed the case was closed but declined to make additional comments. Barrett also declined to comment on the withdrawn charge.

The Allegheny County Public Defender’s Office, which is representing Andreou, did not return an email Monday seeking comment.

He has remained in the Allegheny County Jail since Jan. 20 on a $5,000 bond.

Randall T. Ricciuti, a Monroeville attorney representing Gabbard, said he has little information about his client.

Her case is inactive in Allegheny County because she is being detained in Connecticut for an unrelated crime, he said.

Gabbard remains in custody there after being charged in a case from August, online court records show. She is being held on $75,000 bond on two charges: a second-degree forgery, which is a felony, and “unlawful possession of a personal identifying information access device,” a misdemeanor.

“Connecticut is first in line,” Ricciuti said. “Once she’s sentenced or acquitted, then Allegheny County will pick her up and bring her to court to face these charges.”

Matthews was released on nonmonetary bond in Pittsburgh on Jan. 19. Marte, the driver, posted $5,000 bond a day later. Both men waived their preliminary hearings on May 14.

Attorney Christopher Larson, who represents Matthews, did not return a call seeking comment. Marte’s lawyer, David Shrager, also did not respond to requests for comment.

Big hassle

The Greensburg victim said ID thieves unsuccessfully tried to open two credit cards in his name the same day that authorities allege Andreou took $4,000 from the man’s account. The victim said the bank told him that they’d cover his loss because a “younger, newer teller” didn’t verify a signature when the thief withdrew the cash.

Since the January incident, the man has been calling credit bureaus regularly and now is paying for identity theft prevention software.

“Bottom line, I didn’t lose any money but it was an incredible hassle,” he said. “My information is out there.”