Birmingham man faces federal bank fraud conspiracy charges

By Judy J. Beasley Last updated Nov 20, 2021

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama (WAFF) – A man accused of stealing information from 149 members of the Redstone Federal Credit Union now faces federal charges.

Allen Devon Rutledge, 31, of Birmingham, was arrested in October by Huntsville Police on charges of identity theft, criminal forgery, possession of marijuana and attempting to evade a police officer.

Court documents filed Friday describe a conspiracy to defraud banking institutions where Rutledge is said to transact using counterfeit cards at several banks and credit unions in Huntsville.

According to court documents, Rutledge used the alias “Pryme T” in a group chat on Telegram, an instant messaging service offering encryption, to chat with others about stolen banking information.

Rutledge would also receive debit card numbers and other information, related to actual Redstone accounts, from a person named “Shawn Storm”; that neither Rutledge nor “Shawn Storm” had permission to use.

Federal prosecutors say Rutledge encoded debit card information on magnetic stripe cards using a card encoder.

Prosecutors say that on one occasion Rutledge traveled from Birmingham to Huntsville to transfer $ 500 from the victim’s savings account to his checking account, withdrawing about $ 480.

Rutledge and “Shawn Storm” would then split the proceeds, with Storm receiving 60% and Rutledge 40%.

Investigators say Rutledge stole nearly $ 100,000 and was arrested with 78 fraudulent cards on him in Huntsville.