U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced Oct. 13 that Jennifer Poliandro, 44, of Wyandanch, N.Y., was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison for her role in a bank fraud and aggravated identity theft scheme.
Between Feb. 18 and Feb. 26, 2026, Poliandro and others obtained personally identifiable information from the internet and used it to create counterfeit military identification cards and U.S. passport cards, then used those fraudulent documents to obtain and attempt to obtain money from banks in the Western District of New York, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
On Feb. 18, 2026, Poliandro went to a Lake Shore Bank branch in Fredonia and used a counterfeit military identification card in the name of a Jamestown resident to obtain $7,800 from a home equity line of credit account associated with that individual. The total loss amount of the scheme — including actual and intended loss — was between $15,000 and $40,000.
U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara imposed the 36-month prison term. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Franz M. Wright. The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Anthony Patrone, and the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Fanelli.
