West Dallas man pleads guilty to $15 million bank fraud

Date: Sept. 17, 2026

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Dallas – United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould announced that a West Dallas man pleaded guilty today to bank fraud and admitted to using stolen identities and fake IDs to deposit over $15 million in U.S. Treasury checks intended for various business throughout the United States.

Kendrick Lamont Fugett pleaded guilty before Chief U.S District Court Judge Reed O’Connor. Fugett was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on Aug. 20. 

Mr. Fugett’s guilty plea reflects our office’s commitment to protecting federal funds,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould. “We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to hold accountable those who steal from the American taxpayer and Main Street Americans.”

As Fugett admitted in his plea agreement, he assumed the identity of the chief financial officer of a software company based in Austin, Texas, to open a business account at an Origin Bank branch in Dallas. To pass himself off as the company’s CFO, Fugett used a fake Texas driver’s license and forged corporate documents, later arranging the deposit of a Treasury refund check worth more than $13.8 million.

Fugett’s scheme extended to several other banks in the Dallas area. For example, court documents reveal that Fugett successfully deposited a refund check for more than $447,000 at a Bank of America branch in Mesquite, Texas, that had been made out to a real business. In connection with that transaction, Fugett assumed the identity of the billionaire chairman of the holding company that owns that business and presented a fake Illinois driver’s license bearing his own image. 

Fugett faces a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Jan. 14, 2027. 

IRS Criminal Investigation investigated this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ignacio Perez de la Cruz and Alexander Schwab from the Fraud section are prosecuting the case.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 16 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.