Canadian Defendant Returned From Poland To Face Bank Fraud Charges

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
PHONE:         (716) 843-5817
FAX:            (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Acting Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Panagiota Loukisas, 56, of North York, Ontario, Canada, was successfully returned from Poland and arraigned this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy. In July 2015, the defendant was named in a five count indictment charging bank fraud. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth R. Moellering, who is handling the case, stated that according to the indictment, the defendant opened bank accounts at five banks in Niagara Falls, N.Y. in November 2014. Loukisas deposited checks drawn on a Canadian bank account held by her company, PM Global Consulting Services, into these five accounts. The defendant then withdrew significant sums of money from the Niagara Falls bank accounts before the checks were returned to the banks for insufficient funds. Loukisas is accused of fraudulently depositing non-sufficient fund checks valued at more than $83,000 and withdrawing more than $52,000 from the accounts before the scheme was discovered.

The defendant was arraigned and is being held pending a detention hearing on August 7, 2017. 
The charges are the culmination of an investigation by Special Agents of the Immigration & Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James C. Spero.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.