Man Pleads Guilty to Fraud Charges, Sentenced to 1 ½ Years for Navy Federal Loan Scheme
NORFOLK, Va. — Jaquan Hassan Brehon, 26, was sentenced in November to serve one year and six months in prison and pay $5,000 in restitution after he pleaded guilty to three felonies for fraudulently opening up a Navy Federal Credit Union loan on the victim’s cellphone without permission and thereby stealing $5,000 from the victim.
On Nov. 17, 2023, Mr. Brehon and another individual associated with Mr. Brehon approached the victim at a gas station on Newtown Road, Mr. Brehon claimed that he had forgotten his bank card, and he asked the victim for help buying gas. Mr. Brehon offered to use an app on his phone to transfer $60 to the victim so that the victim could then buy gas using his card for Mr. Brehon. The victim agreed, but when Mr. Brehon claimed that the $60 transfer did not go through, his associate offered to help and handed the victim’s phone to Mr. Brehon. While holding the victim’s phone, Mr. Brehon opened the Navy Federal Credit Union app and, using a combination of the victim’s information and false information, applied for a $6,000 loan. The loan was granted, and the bank deposited $6,000 into the victim’s account without his knowledge.
Pretending that he had just sent the victim money as initially agreed, Mr. Brehon then claimed to have mistakenly sent the victim too much money — $6,000 instead of $60 — and asked the victim to return the excess funds. The victim sent $5,000 back to Mr. Brehon digitally, and Mr. Brehon wanted the rest back in cash, so he and his associate drove behind the victim to a nearby ATM, where they instructed him to withdraw another $1,000. As this was happening, the victim received a phone call from a family member saying they had just received an alert about the fraudulent loan and that they believed the victim was being scammed. The victim confronted Mr. Brehon and his associate, and the two fled in their car, having stolen the $5,000 digitally but not the $1,000 in cash.
Norfolk Police and other local law-enforcement agencies have been aware of a number of variations of this “Navy Federal Scam” being perpetrated in Hampton Roads and were able to identify Mr. Brehon as a person of interest. Detectives conducted a photo lineup, which included Mr. Brehon’s picture, with the victim, and the victim identified Mr. Brehon as the person who had used his phone to conduct the scam. The Norfolk investigators secured arrest warrants against Mr. Brehon, and Mr. Brehon was arrested by Virginia Beach Police the following month. Mr. Brehon’s associate has not yet been identified.
On Nov. 6, 2025, Mr. Brehon entered an agreement to plead guilty to felony obtaining money by false pretenses, computer fraud, and identity fraud; to be sentenced to serve one and a half years in prison with another nine and a half years suspended; and to pay $5,000 restitution to the victim. Mr. Brehon’s suspended sentence is further conditioned on his completion of supervised probation for three years after his release and uniform good behavior for five years. Mr. Brehon’s agreed active sentence was near the midpoint of his state sentencing guidelines. In exchange for Mr. Brehon’s guilty pleas, the Commonwealth agreed to the dismissal of two additional charges related to this incident. Judge Jennifer L. Fuschetti accepted Mr. Brehon’s plea agreement, found him guilty, and sentenced him according to the agreement.
“Mr. Brehon cynically targeted a good Samaritan who believed Mr. Brehon’s lies, only to be defrauded and victimized,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Mr. Brehon has more than earned his trip to prison for this crime. I caution any good Samaritan, especially those with accounts at Navy Federal Credit Union, never to give a stranger access to their banking applications or information. Be kind, be charitable, but be cautious, too.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Wm. Joshua Holder prosecuted Mr. Brehon’s case, and Norfolk Police Detective Nathan R. Banks led the investigation.
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