UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
District of Oregon

PRESS ROOM
January 8, 2008



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United States Attorney for Oregon Requests Public’s Help in Bank Fraud Case


Defendants include former PSU students

Portland, Ore. - Karin J. Immergut, United States Attorney for the District of Oregon, asks for the public’s help in a bank fraud investigation. Five men, including three former Portland State University (PSU) students, allegedly used their on-campus connections with the PSU football team and others to recruit participants in the scheme described in more detail below. Ms. Immergut, along with David I. Miller, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Oregon, and the Washington County Fraud and Identity Theft Enforcement (FITE) Team, comprised of investigators from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Washington County Sheriff’s Office and Hillsboro Police Department, seeks the public’s help in identifying victims and participants in this wide-ranging bank fraud scheme.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment naming the following individuals on December 20, 2007. The charges are as follows:

RALPH ARTIAGA, 24, resident of Tacoma, Washington: 10 counts of Bank Fraud and one count of Aggravated Identity Theft

CALVIN DAVIS, 19, resident of Federal Way, Washington: Three counts of Bank Fraud and one count of Aggravated Identity Theft

BRANDON JONES, 24, resident of Beaverton, Oregon: Five counts of Bank Fraud

DOMINIC DIXON, 23, resident of Seattle, Washington: Two counts of Bank Fraud

JOE SOFTLI, 23, resident of Beaverton, Oregon: Three counts of Bank Fraud

Bank Fraud carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of $1,000,000, while Aggravated Identity Theft carries a mandatory penalty of 2 years in prison.

The indictment alleges that beginning about August 2006 and continuing until January 2007, the defendants convinced approximately 20 people – mostly PSU students – to “sellâ€