Man charged with felony fraud, theft after spending almost $3K from victim's bank account via Cash App, police say

A North Wales man has been charged with felony counts of use of an access device to obtain property without authorization from the owner, theft by unlawful taking of movable property, and receiving stolen property, for allegedly linking a Cash App debit card account to another person’s TD Bank checking account, racking up $2,693 in purchases.

Brandon Scott, 20, of the 400 block of East Walnut Street, North Wales, is accused by Upper Gwynedd Township Police of committing the felonies between April 4 and April 17, per the complaint.

Scott is free on $5,000 unsecured bail ahead of his Dec. 5 11:30 a.m. preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Suzan Leonard. He was arraigned Oct. 10, per court records.

On April 20, police received a fraud report from a township resident, who reported his bank account had been illegally accessed and $2,693.37 was spent from his account, police said. All in all, between April 4 and April 17, there were 65 unauthorized transactions, police allege, including from Cash App, Lyft, Doordash and Papa John’s.

The Cash App showed transactions from the victim’s checking account to Scott’s Cash App debit card, police said.

Police said the victim confronted Scott, who denied doing it and claimed someone else did it, as he lost his phone, per the affidavit. The victim told authorities that Scott setup apps on his cell phone for employment purposes, but did not believe he had access to required information to access a bank account, police said.

An investigation revealed Scott had a Cash App debit card at the time of the incidents, and after conducting a search warrant on three banks, authorities found an additional Cash App debit card account, as well as the victim’s banking information, per the complaint.

Police said the link to the victim’s account allowed Scott to draw money anytime via the Cash App card.

When contacted by investigators, Scott took full responsibility for some of the transactions, police allege. Scott told police somehow the victim’s account was linked to his Uber account and other apps on his phone, per the affidavit.

He told police he set up a $300 monthly repayment plan to the victim until the debt was satisfied, according to charging documents. The victim denied having any conversations with Scott where he admitted taking money from hm and had no knowledge of any repayment agreement, police said.

All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.