Cash and handcuffs.

By Michael Mashburn From Daily Voice

A Long Island woman orchestrated a months-long scheme to secure fraudulent business loans—including a $75,000 payout—using fake documents and straw applicants, a jury found.

Janelle DeFreitas, 45, of Uniondale, was found guilty of grand larceny and criminal possession of a forged instrument in Nassau County Court on Wednesday, Nov. 19. Jurors acquitted her on a separate forgery charge.

Prosecutors argued DeFreitas used a series of fabricated business records, forged bank statements, and multiple “straw” applicants to seek business express loans from Dime Bank branches across Queens and Nassau County between June 2021 and January 2022.

DeFreitas and an accomplice walked into a Dime Bank branch in Queens on June 29, 2021, and attempted to apply for several express business loans totaling more than $400,000. All the businesses were listed at the same Brooklyn address, and DeFreitas was added as an authorized signer on the new accounts.

During a site visit, a branch manager found no legitimate businesses operating at the listed address. The bank denied the loans and closed the accounts.

Investigators later determined that the incorporation records and other documents DeFreitas submitted were fraudulent.

On Aug. 19, 2021, she tried again—this time at Dime Bank’s Garden City branch, using a different individual as the supposed business owner and using a false name for herself. That $100,000 loan request was denied the same day due to credit issues.

Between June and August 2021, DeFreitas was connected to five account openings and six unsuccessful loan applications, prosecutors said.

Days later, between Aug. 24 and Aug. 30, 2021, DeFreitas returned to the Garden City branch with a third person and opened an account for a company called Katrina the Movie 1 Inc. She again used fraudulent corporate documents, including a forged TD Bank statement.

The company then applied for a business loan claiming more than $1.2 million in annual revenue. The loan was approved on Aug. 27 and funded on Aug. 30 with a $75,000 deposit.

Prosecutors said DeFreitas immediately withdrew $45,000 in the form of two cashier’s checks made payable to her mother, who deposited the funds into her own account. The remaining $30,000 was used to pay additional bills. By Sept. 23, 2021, the account balance was under $1,000, and Dime Bank closed it days later.

Investigators say DeFreitas continued her efforts, opening new accounts with fraudulent documents at Webster Bank on Sept. 23, 2021, and applying for another express loan at Dime Bank’s Westbury branch on Jan. 18, 2022. That application was denied.

DeFreitas was arrested Dec. 12, 2023, by Nassau County District Attorney Detective Investigators.

“Janelle DeFreitas is a serial grifter, moving from one attempted fraud to the next, until she is finally able to swindle her way into a payday,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly.