An aspiring Los Angeles-area rapper was taken into custody on Wednesday in connection with a multimillion-dollar check-cashing operation involving stolen tax refunds, federal officials reported Friday.
Ada William Obayuwana, also known as “ColdheartedAC” and “AC,” is one of three defendants charged in a 25-count federal grand jury indictment alleging the trio possessed more than 50 stolen US Treasury checks worth more than $8.1 million, which they then cashed or attempted to cash at lenders throughout Southern California, according to a US Department of Justice news release.
According to the indictment, Obayuwana and two other accused, Albert Tai Vu, 28, of Westminster, and Cassandra Marie Murillo, 31, of San Diego, got the stolen checks and then faked endorsements or changed names and addresses on them to steal the money.
“The defendants opened bank accounts for the purpose of receiving the fraudulently transferred funds,” the DOJ stated. “Sometimes, they used business documents mimicking the names and other identifiers of the victims to cash stolen checks.”
The funds were subsequently reported to have been transferred to accounts at banks and credit unions in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego counties.
Prosecutors allege that from April 2022 to December 2023, Obayuwana attempted to cash at least three Treasury tax return cheques totaling $382,109 and successfully cashed one of them, withdrawing $229,109.
“In December 2023, Obayuwana possessed in his car in Oceanside more than 100 stolen or fraudulent checks, cumulatively worth more than $6.1 million,” the DOJ reported. “Among those checks were 48 stolen United States Treasury checks totaling about $2,555,417 in tax refunds, veterans’ benefits, and Social Security payments. Of the cheques he illegally had, eight were successfully cashed, totaling roughly $1,701,507.”
Obayuwana was detained and made his first appearance in Los Angeles federal court on Wednesday. He is still in federal custody and has a detention hearing planned for Friday.
The 31-year-old Quartz Hill resident faces nine counts of bank fraud. He is also facing three counts of delivering stolen Treasury checks and one count of aggravated identity theft.
Vu faces five charges of delivering stolen Treasury checks, four counts of money laundering, and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
Murillo was charged with one count of conveying stolen Treasury cheques.
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