BOSTON – A Boston man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Boston to a scheme to defraud banks in Massachusetts. William Shaw, 68, pleaded guilty to four counts of bank fraud and four counts of aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Court Judge Julia E. Kobick scheduled sentencing for Jan. 6, 2027. Shaw was charged in January 2026.
From at least December 2022 through at least March 2025, Shaw impersonated at least 13 bank customers. Shaw used fake driver’s licenses with the customers’ information but his own photo and presented bank tellers with withdrawal slips that listed the customers’ names and account numbers. While posing as real bank customers, Shaw withdrew more than $900,000 from the customers’ accounts in the form of cashier’s checks and cash withdrawals.
In July 2025, six men were charged as part of a related investigation into a multi-million-dollar scheme to defraud banks in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. Phalentz Vernot, Victor Kolawole and Keith Wainaina have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Rosemary Parks, was sentenced yesterday for her role in a related scheme. The charge of bank fraud provides for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of $1 million or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of aggravated identity theft carries a sentence of no less than two years in prison consecutive to any sentence received on the other charges. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and P.J. O’Brien, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New Haven Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Connecticut State Police, the Glocester (RI) Police Department, the Sutton Police Department, the Concord (MA) Police Department, the Dracut Police Department, the Westwood Police Department and the Abington Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristen Kearney of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.