An Island Lake woman was among three individuals who were arrested Tuesday after authorities say they defrauded multiple banks of over $2 million.
Jennifer Thompson, 48, of Island Lake, was one of three who were arrested by the Will County Sheriff’s Office Tuesday morning.
The sheriff’s office said that Thompson and two others allegedly defrauded various financial institutions of over $2.5 million and credit lenders of over $400,000.
Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies conducted three search warrants simultaneously at two homes and a business early Tuesday morning and seized five vehicles totaling over $1 million.
A 36-year-old woman, of New Lenox, was arrested for the offense of structuring, a criminal complaint said.
She allegedly attempted to cause JPMorgan Chase to fail to make a record as required by the currency report act.
In September 2021, the woman made separate deposits into her Chase bank account, the complaint said.
She then allegedly transferred $77,000 to the Bank of Palestine a week after making the separate deposits.
The 36-year-old woman was arrested for the offense of money laundering when she made a series of financial transactions and knowingly knew the transactions were the proceeds of a felony, the complaint said.
A judge issued an arrest warrant for the woman and set her bond at $1.5 million on Monday.
Thompson was arrested for the offense of continuing financial crimes enterprise after she allegedly committed three separate offenses of financial institution fraud within a span of 18 months.
Thompson allegedly wrote three separate checks totaling $248,000 to Chase bank knowing there were insufficient funds to cover any of the checks.
Eddie Wood, 39, of New Lenox, was arrested on two counts of continuing financial crimes enterprise after he allegedly initiated three electronic transfers at the Old Plank Trail Community Bank totaling $95,000 and later made three more transfers totaling $380,000 knowing he had insufficient funds to cover all of them.
Wood was also charged with two counts of financial institution fraud when he knowingly participated in schemes to defraud the Old Plank Trail Community Bank when he purchased two cashier’s checks of over $33,000 and $100,000 knowing there were insufficient funds, the sheriff’s office said.
Wood used the first check of $33,086.30 to buy a 2021 GMC Yukon.
On Monday, a judge issued an arrest warrant for both Thompson and Wood and set their bond at $500,000 and $1.5 million, respectively.
Will County sheriff’s detectives spent hundreds of hours in the 18-month-long investigation.
Will County Sheriff Mike Kelley said, “The crimes that these individuals committed are not violent, but they are destructive nonetheless. Due to hard work, determination, and attention to detail, these three individuals will no longer be able to live a lavish lifestyle and are behind bars.”
“This is just another example of how hard our financial crimes detectives work. I would also like to thank the members of the United States Secret Service and the Illinois Department of Revenue for their assistance in this investigation,” Kelley added.