Story by Ethan
On May 22nd, 2025, the arrest of 42-year old Dascons Sears and 41-year old Raymond Lyles was announced by Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. Dascons Sears and Raymond Lyles was charged with fourth-degree Conspiracy, second-degree Money Laundering, first-degree Scheme to Defraud, third and second-degree Grand Larceny, 17 counts of first-degree Identity Theft, 62 counts of first-degree Falsifying Business Records, and other related charges. The arrest and charges against Dascons Sears and Raymond Lyles were a result of an investigation handled by Senior Investigator of Financial Crimes and Intelligence, Yann Du at Municipal Credit Union of New York, Detective Donald Wilhelm, of the Sheriff’s Office of Loudoun County, VA, and the Washington Field Office of the USSS, specifically Special Agent Lance Tate, Special Agent Willis Cheng, and Investigative Analyst Mary Epstein.
According to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, during the two year time period between January 1st, 2022 and January 1st, 2024, the defendants had allegedly stolen 17 different social security numbers. Both defendants would forge identity profiles for each different social security number, creating fake driver’s licenses, bank accounts and statements, payroll stubs and checks, bills, real estate deeds, taxation forms, and email accounts controlled by the defendants. The defendants used the fabricated accounts with stolen and fraudulent information in order to open various financial accounts and apply for loans and debit cards. Subsequently the loans and debit cards were distributed after the applications were approved, however the loans would allegedly be dispersed to either the newly acquired debit cards or other personal bank accounts of the defendants. The loans were not paid back, leading to financial loss to the creditors and added debt to the victims. The defendants were allegedly given loans worth between $15,000 and $36,000, with the final sum of money stolen totalling to approximately $416,000.
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office stated that the charges against Dascons Sears and Raymond Lyles are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
