Oregon man sentenced after HSI investigation helps end credit union fraud scheme

PORTLAND, Ore. — A Beaverton man was sentenced to federal prison today for stealing $60,000 from more than 80 local credit union members.

Winston E. Gray, 31, was sentenced to four years in federal prison and three years’ supervised release.

According to court documents, between March and April of 2020, Gray used fake customer support telephone messages and calls to trick credit union customers into giving Gray their personal financial account information. Gray then used the fraudulently obtained account information to create counterfeit debit and credit cards he used to purchase various consumer goods and withdraw cash.

At the time of his arrest, Gray had in his possession, numerous fake credit cards, personal financial information stolen from dozens of real individuals, access device making equipment, blank credit card stock, clothing he used as disguises and more than $11,000 in cash stolen from local ATM machines. Gray perpetrated this scheme while on supervised release after being convicted, in 2018, for assault and making false statements.

On April 17, 2020, Gray was charged by criminal complaint with bank fraud. Later, on May 5, 2020, a federal grand jury in Portland returned an indictment charging Gray with bank fraud, counterfeit access device fraud, illegal possession of device-making equipment, aggravated identity theft and felon in possession of a firearm.

On Sept. 14, 2020, Gray pleaded guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

During sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge Karin J. Immergut ordered Gray to pay $60,000 in restitution.

Acting U.S. Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug of the District of Oregon made the announcement.

This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Portland Police Bureau, and the Beaverton Police Department, and was prosecuted by Claire Fay and Quinn Harrington, Assistant U.S. Attorneys for the District of Oregon.

HSI is a directorate of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 7,100 Special Agents assigned to 220 cities throughout the United States, and 80 overseas locations in 53 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.