{"id":950713,"date":"2026-07-22T00:12:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T00:12:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/950713\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T00:12:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T00:12:36","slug":"rikers-island-guards-nyc-subway-track-worker-took-part-in-3m-check-fraud-scam-feds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/950713\/","title":{"rendered":"Rikers Island guards, NYC subway track worker took part in $3M check fraud scam: feds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four former and current guards at Rikers Island and a city Transit Authority track worker nicknamed \u201cHeavy Pockets\u201d were arrested for taking part in a $3 million check fraud scheme, according to the feds.<\/a><\/p>\n

Federal prosecutors announced Monday that nine people have so far been indicted in the scheme, including two former Rikers guards who pleaded guilty to wire and bank fraud conspiracy in May.<\/p>\n

The group took their cues from Bianca Viuex, a 33-year-old Fort Lauderdale and former Queens resident who sought out accomplices to open bank accounts where falsified checks could be deposited, according to the feds.<\/p>\n

She called the banks they used her \u201cplayground\u201d in one text message, and bragged in another, \u201cI never set up a man in my life! lol I scam the government not human beings I don\u2019t steal from people I still [sic] from banks,\u201d the indictment alleges.<\/a><\/p>\n

Her co-conspirators included former Rikers Correction Officers Aaron Warren and Tara Dildy, both 36 and from Queens, who have pleaded guilty to bank and wire fraud conspiracy, as well as current Rikers guard Christopher Walker, 34, of Queens, and former guard Valeria Waldron, 37 \u2014 who later took a job as a parole officer for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the feds said.<\/p>\n

Warren and Didly resigned from the city Department of Corrections after they pleaded guilty, an agency spokesman said. Waldron was terminated and Walker has been suspended since last September.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe alleged actions of this small group of people is not representative of our staff, who perform a difficult and heroic job day in and day out with integrity,\u201d the spokesman added. \u201cAnyone who violates the trust that is placed in them will be held accountable and doesn\u2019t represent the work of the agency as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also indicted were Steven Boyce, 32, a city Transit Authority track worker from Brooklyn, nicknamed \u201cHeavy Pockets,\u201d Daija-Nek Johnson, 21, of Queens, Destiny Mendez, 29, of Brooklyn, and Michelle Wilson, 54, of Fort Worth, Tex.<\/p>\n

\u201cAllegations in their own right don\u2019t mean anything,\u201d Mendez\u2019s lawyer, Howard Greenberg, said Tuesday when asked for comment.<\/p>\n

Vieux recruited members of the group on an encrypted messaging platform, and got them to provide their bank account info, the feds allege.<\/p>\n

Between 2023 and 2025, she or another member of the group would deposit falsified checks into their co-conspirators\u2019 bank accounts. If the checks cleared, the account\u2019s holder would head to Queens to withdraw large amounts of cash in person, the feds allege.<\/p>\n

\u201cMs. Vieux is innocent of the charges. She looks forward to challenging the government\u2019s accusations and clearing her name at trial,\u201d Vieux\u2019s lawyer, Ilana Haramati, told the Daily News Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Boyce also ran a scheme where he made fake Social Security cards he\u2019d sell to Walker, showing off his skill with a video showing a card printed out under the name \u201cHeavy Pockets,\u201d the feds allege.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs alleged, the defendants conspired to create and deposit fake checks at various banks to line their own pockets at the expense of financial institutions,\u201d U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella said. \u201cIt is particularly egregious when individuals who took an oath to uphold the law and serve the public, choose to commit serious federal crimes to serve themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boyce\u2019s lawyer, Kenneth Montgomery, said Tuesday, \u201cWe look forward to reviewing the discovery and making sure the presumption of innocence is applied.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boyce is being held out of service without pay, according to an MTA spokesman.<\/p>\n

Warren and Dildy are set to be sentenced in November. Warren faces a possible 57 to 71 months in federal prison, Dildy a possible 10 to 16 months, according to sentencing guidelines.<\/p>\n

At her May change-of-plea hearing, Dildy apologized for her role in the alleged conspiracy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe money came from fraudulent checks. I was aware of this,\u201d she told a judge. \u201cWhile I did not have decision-making authority or was aware of the full scope of the scheme and conspiracy, I knew at the time that my actions were illegal and wrong. Since my arrest I\u2019ve done a lot of personal reflection. I accept full responsibility for my wrongdoing and the harm I caused to any victims. I especially regret my past associations. I will never do anything like this ever again. I am truly sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four former and current guards at Rikers Island and a city Transit Authority track worker nicknamed \u201cHeavy Pockets\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":950714,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,190210,357468,49410,18117,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,382753,74350,12842,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,42655],"class_list":["post-950713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-bank-fraud","tag-check-fraud","tag-conspiracy","tag-federal-prosecutors","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-transit-worker","tag-rikers-island","tag-scam","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-wire-fraud"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116960739367885576","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=950713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/950714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=950713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=950713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=950713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}