Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Kai Jamerea Dever, 20, of Portland, Oregon, and Julian Tyowan Thompson, 20, of Gainesville, were arrested yesterday after a third party reportedly gave Thompson fake IDs and a suit to withdraw money from victims’ bank accounts.
The two men allegedly went to the Chase Bank at 4324 NW 43rd Street at about 12:30 p.m. yesterday, where Thompson gave the teller a New York driver’s license in the victim’s name in an attempt to withdraw all of the money in his account, over $20,000. Employees at the bank noticed that Thompson did not physically match the description of the account owner in the bank’s records and called law enforcement.
Gainesville Police Department officers learned that the pair had attempted to open a joint account with the intention of transferring the victim’s money into that account; Dever was supposed to withdraw the money from the joint account and then close that account, stealing all the money in the victim’s account.
Post Miranda, Dever reportedly said he had replied to a social media post about making “quick money.” A third party, who has not been identified, reportedly bought him a plane ticket from Portland to Gainesville, and the same person drove him to meet up with Thompson. Dever said he and Thompson drove together to the bank; he said he was just trying to make quick cash because he was unemployed and that he was hoping to get $2,000-$5,000 for participating in the scheme.
Post Miranda, Thompson reportedly admitted that he had met up with the third party, who gave him the fake driver’s license and a Chase bank card; he also admitted driving with Dever to the bank for the purpose of withdrawing all the money from the victim’s account, then transferring the money to a joint account, withdrawing the cash, and closing the account. Thompson reportedly said he expected to be paid about $2,000 for his part in the scheme. He said the third party gave him a suit and a back story to use in the bank.
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The GPD officer reported that Thompson had tried the same thing earlier in the day at another Chase bank, attempting to get into a different account with a different fake ID.
A search of Thompson’s wallet reportedly produced three fake IDs. One was a fake Florida license that showed him as over 21 years of age; one was from the Bahamas, also showing him as 21 years old; the third was the New York license with all the victim’s personal information.
Dever has been charged with grand theft over $20,000 and scheme to defraud over $20,000. He has no criminal history; Judge Walter Green set bail at $5,000 per charge, for a total of $10,000.
Thompson has been charged with grand theft over $20,000, scheme to defraud over $20,000, possession of another person’s ID, knowingly possessing identification of four or fewer people, and giving false identification information to an officer. He has no criminal history, and Judge Green set bail at $1,000 per charge, for a total of $5,000.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
