A Uniondale woman was convicted of grand larceny and forgery charges for a scheme to fraudulently obtain a $75,000 bank loan and steal the money.
Between June 29, 2021, and January 18, 2022, Janelle DeFreitas planned and executed multiple schemes to fraudulently secure express business loans from Dime Bank branches using another individual as a straw person, who would apply for a loan.
On June 29, 2021, the defendant and another person visited a Dime Bank branch located in Queens. They applied for several business express loans for businesses allegedly owned by the individual accompanying DeFreitas. The total amount requested for those loans was over $400,000.
Dime Bank requires any loan applicants to have Dime Bank accounts, which can receive the funds if a loan is approved. The defendant and the purported owner of the businesses opened accounts for four of the companies, which all allegedly operated out of one location in Brooklyn. DeFreitas was listed as a signer on these accounts, authorized to conduct transactions, including deposits and withdrawals.
Corporate documents were also provided to Dime Bank by DeFreitas, as well as documents that purported to be certificates of incorporation filed with New York State.
During the account opening process, Dime Bank performed a site visit to the one address provided for all the businesses to confirm that the businesses were real and operational. When the branch manager visited the single location for all the businesses, it did not appear that any legitimate business was being operated out of the location. Dime Bank declined to issue the loans and closed the accounts opened by the defendant.
The Nassau County District Attorney’s investigation later determined that the documents DeFreitas provided to Dime were fraudulent.
On August 19, 2021, DeFreitas attempted to get another business express loan with a different individual, this time at a Dime Bank located in Garden City. Again, she visited the branch with a person purporting to be the business owner to discuss the possibility of applying for a business loan for $100,000. However, in this instance, the defendant did not provide her true name, and Dime Bank did not make a connection to the prior incident in Queens. The loan was denied on the same day because of credit issues.
Between June 29, 2021, and August 19, 2021, DeFreitas was connected to five account openings and six unsuccessful loan applications.
According to the investigation, between August 24, 2021 and August 30, 2021, DeFreitas, still using a fake name, returned to Dime Bank in Garden City with a third individual. The defendant and her companion opened an account for a company called Katrina the Movie 1 Inc. and alleged that the man accompanying the defendant was the president and owner of the company located in Brooklyn.
After the account was opened, a loan application was submitted, which alleged that the company had over $1.2 million in annual sales. The loan was approved on August 27, 2021, and funded on August 30, 2021, with a deposit of $75,000 into Katrina the Movie 1 Inc.’s business checking account.
To obtain the business account and loan, DeFreitas again provided fraudulent documents to Dime Bank about the company’s finances and incorporation, including a forged TD Bank statement for Katrina the Movie 1 Inc.
The investigation determined that the bank account statement was forged, and the account number given by DeFreitas belonged to another company’s bank account, for which the defendant was the primary contact.
On the same day that the loan was funded, DeFreitas went to the Garden City branch and made a $45,000 withdrawal in the form of two cashier’s checks, both made payable to the defendant’s mother. The funds were deposited into DeFreitas’ mother’s account and used to pay debts and bills.
The remaining $30,000 in the business account was also used to pay more bills, and by September 23, 2021, the account had a balance of just under $1,000. The bank closed the account on September 27, 2021.
On September 23, 2021, and on January 18, 2022, DeFreitas again conducted similar schemes and opened accounts at a Webster Bank location and made another loan application with a Dime Bank in Westbury.
On each occasion, DeFreitas provided the banks with fraudulent corporate documents that had been previously submitted to the other Dime locations to acquire loans.
Dime Bank declined the requested loan in January 2022.
DeFreitas was arrested on December 12, 2023, by Nassau County District Attorney Detective Investigators.
DeFreitas, 45, was convicted on November 19, 2025, after a jury trial before Judge Terence Murphy of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (a Class C felony) and Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Third Degree (a Class A misdemeanor). She was acquitted of one count of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree (a Class D felony).
The trial began on November 3, 2025, and the jury deliberated for less than five hours before delivering their verdict. The defendant was remanded by the court and is due back for sentencing on December 18, 2025. As a second felony offender, the defendant faces a maximum of 7-1/2 to 15 years in prison.
“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 DA Anne Donnelly. “This is the second felony conviction this defendant has received for a financial crime in less than ten years. Just over a year after being released from custody for her last brush with the law, DeFreitas hatched the plan for this score and began committing the crimes charged in this case. If there’s an angle to be played, this defendant will play it. I thank the jury for recognizing this defendant’s pattern of fraud and convicting her of these charges.”