A man named Anthony Demasi was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday with attempting to take out credit cards from three banks using the identities of three people without their consent. The crimes allegedly took place in Isabella County.
Demasi was indicted on three counts of bank fraud, which carries a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, and three counts of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years.
Very little information was immediately available about Demasi, other than his name and that the crimes allegedly took place in Isabella County.
There is a man named Anthony Demasi with known ties to Isabella County and an education foundation called Beta Sole. Shortly after the federal indictments were unsealed, rumors began to circulate that the Demasi charged in federal court was the same Demasi associated with the Beta Sole Foundation.
No information affirmatively connecting the two was available in any federal court document. A phone call was placed to Beta Sole’s Mt. Pleasant address inquiring about whether the Anthony Demasi associated with Beta Sole as its founder was the Anthony Demasi charged in federal court with bank fraud and identity theft.
Someone answering the phone said she could not confirm or deny that association and said no one available at the foundation on Friday could, either. A name and phone number were taken to pass along.
The Anthony Demassi associated with the Beta Sole Foundation lists his home as in Chicago on his Facebook page.
The Anthony Demassi indicted by a federal grand jury is accused of using the identities of three people without their knowledge to apply for credit cards from Capital One, JP Morgan Chase, and Barclay’s of Delaware in 2018.
The indictment asserts that he attempted to get the credit card from JP Morgan Chase Bank between March 6 and May of that year, that he attempted to get the credit card from Barclays Bank Delaware on Jan. 4 and that he attempted to get the credit card from Capital One on Aug. 31.
Demasi was charged shortly after the indictment was returned and released on a $10,000 bond.