Laquan Williams, a 42-year-old New Jersey man, has been sentenced to 200 months in federal prison, about 16 years and 8 months, for a bank fraud conspiracy that included the deposit of a stolen $13.9 million U.S. Treasury check. Judge Laura Taylor Swain imposed the sentence in federal court on October 13.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced it the next day. Williams, of Florham Park, who goes by “China Man,” was also ordered to forfeit about $1.8 million and serve three years of supervised release after prison.
The $13.9 million check
The stolen Treasury check was part of the longest of three schemes laid out in the prosecutors’ announcement. From October 2021 to May 2024, Williams took part in depositing stolen Treasury checks into accounts opened for that purpose and controlled by the group. Members recruited people to pose as the owners of the companies named on the checks. In the example prosecutors cite, a stolen Treasury check for $13.9 million was deposited into a recently opened account at a Massachusetts bank branch.
Prosecutors put the intended loss from that scheme at more than $30 million. The actual loss was at least $1,157,029.78. The announcement does not say what happened to the $13.9 million check after it was deposited.
Williams pleaded guilty on September 4, 2025, to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. In all, prosecutors say he caused at least $1.8 million in losses to financial institutions.
The people hurt first by a stolen check are the payee who never gets the money and the bank that pays out on it. Anyone who is owed a federal payment by check will want to know what to do if it goes missing. The Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service says to contact the paying agency and report the incident. The agency then sends information on the check claims process, including forms to return. Fiscal Service lists a call center at 1-855-868-0151 for people who cannot tell which agency issued a check.
Williams has been ordered to forfeit about $1.8 million and pay restitution, but prosecutors have not published the restitution amount or a payment date, and victims are waiting on that deadline.
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Two other schemes
The $13.9 million check was one piece of a wider fraud. In the first scheme, in May and June 2023, co-conspirators walked into banks in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut and posed as customers to deposit checks that moved victims’ money into accounts the group controlled. One victim was a prominent former federal official. Prosecutors say Williams also tried to impersonate that victim by phone, using the victim’s Social Security number, to move money between accounts. The intended loss was about $827,568, and the actual loss about $43,361.
In the second, from September to November 2023, a co-conspirator posed as the owners of small businesses at banks in New Jersey and New York and asked for transfers from their business accounts into newly opened accounts with nearly identical names. Williams controlled those accounts, prosecutors say. He then withdrew the cash or sent it through CashApp. The intended loss was about $218,123, and the actual loss about $87,761.
What agents found in May 2024
Agents arrested Williams on May 23, 2024, and searched his home and vehicle. The announcement lists what they seized: about 1,102 blank state ID cards and about 571 counterfeit IDs, a hologram ID card press and about 27 seals and holograms. They also took about nine stolen Treasury checks worth about $506,011, and about 1,015 other stolen or altered checks worth about $3.35 million. Agents found about 524 counterfeit credit or debit cards, about 56 stolen credit cards and about 478 pages of blank check stock, along with printers and laminators. Two loaded handguns were also recovered.
In all, prosecutors say Williams possessed more than 1,000 stolen or counterfeit checks and made more than 500 counterfeit state and federal IDs. The losses tied to the items seized in the arrest came to about $537,597.
A repeat offender
Prosecutors say Williams committed this conduct while on federal supervised release. In May 2018, U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl sentenced him to 64 months for a similar bank fraud scheme.
U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald said: “Laquan Williams is a bank fraudster who has stolen millions of dollars from Americans.” McDonald said the sentence protects New Yorkers and that serial fraudsters will be pursued aggressively. The U.S. Secret Service and the New York City Police Department investigated, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ryan Allison and Andrew K. Chan of the office’s Violent Organizations and Crime Unit handled the case.
If a federal check goes missing
Treasury’s payment integrity page is the free official route. It tells payees to contact the agency that issued the check. If the issuing agency is not obvious, the check carries an Agency Location Code that can be matched to an agency in a table on the same page.
The page does not state a time limit for filing a claim, and it does not name the claim forms. It says the agency sends the forms and explains the process after the report is made. A payee waiting on a mailed check can ask the agency whether it was sent and to which address.
Prosecutors have not said how much restitution Williams owes or when victims will be paid. The court has ordered restitution, and that figure and its schedule will come from the court.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by The Financial Wire’s editorial team.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
