Press Releases

Suncoast Bank Fraud
March 22, 2008

Together, they came up with a plan to scheme the credit union out of more than $90,000. Now, three Fort Myers residents find themselves on the run from the law.

She’s been a frequent resident at the Lee County Jail over the last decade - with 25 arrests for theft, assault and a long list of other charges. And now, Yalanda Kendrick is back on the run, this time facing arrest for the role she played in defrauding the credit union out of more than $90,000.

“It’s pretty well thought out, but at its core, it’s still a very simple philosophy," said Special Agent Greg Monk.

Kendrick paired up with seven others to pull the scam off - five have already been arrested. But Kendrick, Sonya Wilbon and Joseph Temple are still hiding out somewhere in Southwest Florida. Special Agent Greg Monk said the group would deposit bad checks into accounts, mostly through ATMs, then quickly withdraw and spend the money before anyone caught on.

Over a period of months, they hit numerous branches of Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union - spanning from Tampa to Fort Myers.

“That was their M.O. They would travel to branches in the area here - and hit another one in the same day. In most of the cases, we were able to determine that people were giving them their cards, in exchange for a cut of the money from the fraud," Monk said.

Investigators say the suspects in this case have extensive criminal histories of fraud, theft and scamming others. Collectively, they have nearly 40 arrests between them. But it’s going to take information from the public to put these fugitives behind bars and put an end to their criminal ways.

Sonya Wilbon, also known as Sonya Brown, has 13 previous in Lee and Collier Counties – for charges including possession and sale of cocaine, and multiple probation violations. Joseph Temple started committing crimes when he was still a juvenile. His arrest record stretches from Fort Myers to Lakeland – mostly for fraud charges. And then there’s Kendrick, with 25 local arrests, on top of others from Sarasota and Manatee Counties. She’s been jailed previously for grand theft, assault, lying to police and defrauding a financial institution.

And until they’re caught and arrested, Special Agent Monk says the trio may continue their scam – just on a different victim this time.