Coral Springs woman helped steal $12K from man in bank fraud scheme, cops say

A Coral Springs woman is facing charges for her alleged $12,000 involvement in a banking scheme to defraud a California man.

Nina Marie Lopez, 26, turned herself in at the Broward main jail May 5 and bonded out two days later. She’s charged with grand theft over $10,000 and under $20,000.

Lopez is accused of participating in the scheme by withdrawing money from her bank account that came from a scam victim, and then giving that money to some of the purported scammers.

Coral Springs investigators received information in June 2025 from law enforcement in California about a bank fraud victim who had $12,199 deposited into a Wells Fargo account belonging to a Coral Springs resident, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Police interviewed Lopez, the account holder, who initially said she learned there was a fraud issue with her Wells Fargo account before changing her story and saying she met a man who “asked her if she wanted to make some quick money,” the report says.

She said she was unemployed and her mom was having financial troubles, so she agreed.

She gave him her debit card information, and she met with the man, who reportedly gave her a withdrawal slip for $11,331, according to the affidavit. She told police she completed the transaction and gave him the money but said she didn’t know how the money got into her account in the first place.

The man picked her up on other occasions to withdraw more money from ATMs, then he would give her a cut, police said. She estimated she made about $2,000.

In October, Coral Springs police spoke with the California victim, who said he had been contacted by a person posing as a Wells Fargo representative reporting fraudulent activity with his account.

He went to a local branch and closed his account, taking out $37,499, according to police. He was instructed to deposit the money into multiple Apple wallets and other accounts, and five of the transactions went to Lopez’s account, records show.

A warrant was issued for her arrest in March.