A 23-year-old Stockton, Calif., man is accused of scamming two banks in Minot, one in Dickinson, and trying to scam a bank in Rolla last summer to get cash advances on a credit card.

Patrick Griffith entered not guilty pleas to Class C felony theft charges on Thursday in district court in Minot.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed with the court, the scam worked like this. Griffith allegedly approached the teller at Dacotah Bank in Minot on Aug. 25, gave her a fake ID with the name “Marcus Williams” and asked for a $5,000 cash advance on a credit card. He asked to call the bank the credit card was through to check the interest rate and credit limit on the card. The teller watched Griffith call someone, ask what his interest rate was and his credit limit and then appear to verify a Social Security number. Then Griffith handed his phone to the teller. The teller then spoke to a woman on the other end of the line who said her name was Stephaie and she was with a business called Merchant Solutions. The woman on the other end of the phone asked the teller to verify the driver’s license and expiration date. The teller gave “Stephanie” the information and “Stephanie” said the data matched her records. “Stephanie” told the teller that she would need to be on the phone with her while the teller did the advance. “Stephanie” told the teller that she would need to push the purple button on the cash advance machine and follow the prompts. The teller did so but, when she did, the program exited out. The teller tried to do the cash advance the regular way and the card was declined. “Stephanie” told the teller again that she needed to push the purple button on the cash advance machine to do the advance. The transaction then went through and the teller processed the $5,000 cash advance.

Griffith allegedly also scammed a Dacotah Bank in Rapid City, S.D.  and another Dacotah Bank in Custer, S.D., using the same tactics.

Later that day, Griffith went to a Dacotah Bank in Rolla and tried to withdraw money. He was denied and left the bank. A clerk called 911 and Griffith was later pulled over by law enforcement in Towner County

When he was searched, Griffith had $11,939 on his person. The driver of the car, Cody Whittaker-Benskin, 27, had $8,700 hidden on his person and $9,210 hidden in his shoes. There was also a minor girl in the car.

Further investigation revealed that Griffith had also obtained $5,000 in a cash advance from a Gate City Bank in Minot and $5,200 from a Gate City Bank in Dickinson.

Griffith is also facing a two Class B felonies, unauthorized use of personal identifying information and criminal conspiracy, and two Class C felonies, theft by deception and criminal conspiracy, in district court in Dickinson. A felony jury trial on those charges is scheduled for Jan. 11.

Felony criminal conspiracy charges against Whittaker-Benskin, who is from Henderson, Nev., were dismissed in district court in Dickinson.

A pretrial conference in the case is scheduled for Jan. 18.

– Andrea Johnson