The ringleader of an Orange County bank fraud and identity theft scheme, who stole half a million dollars from customers, will serve jail time.

29-year-old Tyrone “Reece” Lee will serve 10-20 years in prison following his 15-count conviction. The sentenced will run concurrent with a previous sentence of 4 ½ years to 9 years for a similar scheme in Westchester.

In late Feb. an Orange County Jury found Lee guilty of all 15 counts including grand larceny and identify theft. According to Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman, Lee ran an identity-theft operation that stole over $457,000 from customers of Wachovia Bank, now Wells Fargo, in Newburgh between July 2010 and August 2011.

Lee recruited his girlfriend, Nadia Figueroa, to obtain a position as a bank teller at the Wachovia branch located at 41 North Plank Road in Newburgh. Lee directed Figueroa to search for common names and to copy specific information, including account numbers, social security numbers, and signature cards.

Many of the accounts victimized were selected by a practice known as “name surfing,” wherein Figueroa illegally searched Wachovia’s customer database for common names, states of residence, and high account balances.

Figueroa testified that during her 7 weeks of employment, she illegally accessed the personal identification information of over 200 Wachovia bank account holder. Using the stolen account information, Lee and co-conspirators withdrew funds from 77 customer accounts at branches located in Nassau County and New York City, as well as in Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia.

Earlier this year Lee pleaded guilty to an entire 37-count Westchester County indictment, including multiple counts of grand larceny and identified theft.

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