Thursday, Oct. 02, 2008

Kennewick real estate agent pleads guilty to mail fraud

By Paula Horton, Herald staff writer

A Kennewick woman admitted she helped her daughter devise a scheme to steal people's identities with information her daughter had access to as a bank vice president.

Cynthia Jean Walker, 54, also admitted that she used her job as a licensed real estate agent to find vacant homes where the fraudulent credit cards could be sent and picked up.

Walker pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Richland to two counts of mail fraud.

Two counts of aggravated identity theft charges are expected to be dropped when Walker is sentenced, as long as she complies with the terms of the plea agreement. The agreement includes testifying against her daughter, court documents said.

Walker could receive up to six months in prison. A federal judge could order her to serve consecutive sentences on each mail fraud charge. Sentencing is set for January to ensure Walker complies with the agreement.

Walker's daughter, Cassidy R. Janosky, 36, worked at Bank of the West as a vice president, business development officer.

Janosky is accused of obtaining personal information from bank customers and using that information to open credit cards in the customers' names.

The duo are accused of charging several thousand dollars worth of merchandise online from Sears.

They were arrested in January when they went to the Kennewick Sears store to pick up some of the items, including a 32-inch LCD TV, a 46-inch LCD TV and a Sony PlayStation 3.

Janosky's trial is set for Oct. 20, but her attorney has requested a new trial date because of a scheduling conflict he has with another trial, court documents said.

Her attorney, Ken Therrien, also noted that he's negotiating a settlement for Janosky and expects the matter to be resolved before trial.

Janosky is charged with four counts of mail fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft.

According to court documents, Walker had gone to celebrate her birthday at her daughter's house Jan. 6 when Janosky said they needed to go to Sears to pick up some merchandise she had bought online with the fraudulent credit card.

A treadmill intended to be a birthday present for Walker was among the items they were supposed to pick up.

Janosky told Walker that she needed to go inside to get the items because Janosky had been in there the week before to get two TVs and an iPod and she feared the clerks might recognize her.

The duo also bought two recliners and a rug that they planned to have shipped to the same vacant home the credit cards were sent to. A West Richland police detective was able to cancel the delivery.

In all, Janosky and Walker are accused of making more than $13,000 in fraudulent charges.

Janosky told investigators that the scheme was her mother's idea. She said Walker was dating someone in prison and always was broke and constantly borrowing money.

Janosky said her mother suggested getting information from her bank customers, and Janosky said it was easy to do because she dealt with finances all day.

They used computers in a business center at Janosky's apartment and a hotel in Kennewick to apply for the credit cards and buy the merchandise, Janosky said.

Walker, however, said that just before Christmas, her daughter said she was going to use information from credit files of loan applications to open credit card accounts.

West Richland police began investigating the identity theft after a resident reported a credit card had been opened in her name without her knowledge.

Walker and Janosky had been charged in Benton County Superior Court, but the state charges were dropped after Walker and Janosky were indicted by a federal grand jury.