‘God Squad’ recruits high schoolers to steal from CUs, bank

Men use images of cash and luxury cars on social media to entice Oregon students into participating in their crime.

Federal prosecutors alleged three men ran a social media group called the “God Squad” and used Snapchat and Instagram to display money and luxury cars, luring high school students to steal thousands of dollars from six credit unions and a bank throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington.

An indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Portland, Ore., on Dec. 21 charges Darrin Hopkins, 22, Tyrann Chambers, 21 and Jaidan O’Neal with 14 felony counts of bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. They pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The high school students were not charged because they were duped into believing the transactions were legitimate.

The accused men allegedly targeted students at Grant High School in Portland to deposit more than $140,000 in counterfeit checks at branches of the $1.4 billion Advantis Credit Union in Clackamas, Ore., the $856 million Rivermark Community Credit Union in Beaverton, Ore., the $24 billion Pentagon Federal Credit Union in McLean, Va., the $1.6 billion SELCO Community Credit Union in Eugene, Ore., the $1 billion IQ Credit Union in Vancouver, Wash., the $5.4 billion OnPoint Community Credit Union in Portland, Ore., and U.S. Bank.

 

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