Woman reports she was victim of bank fraud, but she was part of scheme, cops say

A 21-year-old woman reported to Coral Springs police that she was the victim of a financial crime, but investigators say she was actually involved in the scheme.

Niqueria Stokes of Coral Springs is now charged with grand theft over $10,000 but under $20,000, and giving a false crime report. She was arrested April 24 and bonded out of jail three days later.

Stokes reported to police in October 2024 that someone had fraudulently opened a TD Bank account using Stokes’ personal information, and the bank shared $11,000 was withdrawn from the account across two transactions, according to a probable cause affidavit.

But police said a bank teller identified Stokes as the person who withdrew the money, so officers pulled the bank’s surveillance footage and confirmed it was Stokes going into the bank and making the two withdrawals, records show.

She made the withdrawals within one day of an $18,556 wire transfer hitting her TD account, police said.

Investigators said they tracked down the person wire transfer and found a victim in California. She told police that someone claiming to be a Wells Fargo representative told her there was fraudulent activity on her account, and she needed to transfer money to a TD Bank account to protect her assets, according to the affidavit.

Someone believed to be involved in the scheme transferred the money from her account, and she later realized she had been scammed, she said.

About a month after reporting she was the victim of fraud, Stokes went to the police station again, this time with an attorney, and said that two acquaintances had asked her to deposit money into her account and then withdraw some of it, according to the arrest report.

She said she “assisted with the deposit and went into TD Bank to withdraw the $6,000 and $5,000 amounts,” the affidavit reads “The defendant further stated that she went to various Publix ATM locations with one of the acquaintances and also initiated withdrawals from her account.”

Stokes said she had lied to TD Bank employees and police, investigators said.

Broward court records indicate an arrest warrant was issued in March, and she was taken into custody a month later.

The scheme follows a similar pattern Coral Springs investigators have looked into in recent years, in which a fake bank agent will tell someone they have fraudulent activity on their account and need to move their money into an account controlled by a fraudster.