Illinois Man Sentenced to 96 Months in Prison

HAMMOND - Oliver Coverson, 41 years old, of Calumet City, Illinois, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Philip P. Simon after pleading guilty to one count of Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud and one count of Aggravated Identity Theft, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Coverson was sentenced to 96 months in prison, 2 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $1,013,543.86 in restitution to the victims of the offenses.

According to documents in the case, between May 2019 and December 2020, Coverson supervised and executed a scheme to fraudulently obtain over $3.3 million from the proceeds of 17 stolen business checks. Coverson and his co-conspirators registered fictitious corporations with the Indiana and Illinois Secretaries of State, opened fraudulent corporate bank accounts, and deposited the stolen checks into the fraudulent accounts. Coverson's actions contributed to the loss of $1,013,543.86 to multiple banks and businesses.

This case was investigated by United States Postal Inspection Service, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of Inspector General, and the Lake County Sheriff's Office. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Abizer Zanzi and Zachary D. Heater.