CALIFORNIA—On July 16, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced that Chase Matthew Griffin, aka Trey, 26, was sentenced to 108 months in federal prison. He is a former South Los Angeles resident who has lived in Atlanta and Ontario, and a member of the Crips Street gang based in Southern Los Angeles. He participated in a check-fraud scheme totaling$2.8 million.
He was ordered to pay $307,386 in restitution. On March 5, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. The scheme began in 2022 and ended in September 2025, when he was taken into federal custody.
According to prosecutors, Griffin and his co-conspirators stole checks sent by mail and either created counterfeit checks or altered them to make them payable to themselves. They recruited people on Instagram, sent them money, and withdrew the funds, to avoid detection by the bank. Griffin also posted pictures of himself with large stacks of money.
In December 2023, a business in North Hollywood reported that three checks totaling about $84,490 had been mailed from a collection box in Tarzana. The checks were stolen and later deposited into JPMorgan Chase accounts belonging to someone else. Law enforcement officers were shown photos of the deposited checks, with the payees’ names altered.
This prompted law enforcement to investigation and discovered that $22,487 had been deposited into an ATM in Upland. The payee’s name was altered on one check for more than $29,081 with all other information unchanged.
After the funds were withdrawn, they were used to cover the cost of a plane ticket, purchase a casino in San Bernardino County, make payments via Cash App and Zelle, and withdraw cash from an ATM.
The investigation was conducted by the Upland Police Department and the United States Postal Inspection Service.
