BOZEMAN -- A third man has been arrested in connection to a bank fraud case in Bozeman.
Enrique Arena, 27, of Bronx, NY, was seen in Gallatin County Justice Court on Friday, July 22, 2022, on charges of conspiracy and use or possession of property subject to criminal forfeiture. Arena's bail was set at $20,000 and his next court appearance is set for Aug. 5, 2022.
According to charging documents, on Thursday, July 21, 2022, a Bozeman Police detective was notified that a man had contacted a car rental business to unlock a vehicle that had been used earlier this week in a reported bank fraud theft case, where a man tried to illegally withdraw money from a Bozeman bank after reportedly illegally withdrawing $7,000 earlier from a Billings bank.
Detectives and officers responded to the area of the vehicle and observed a man get out of another rental vehicle. When questioned by law enforcement, Arena reportedly claimed to be a cousin of Johnny D. Lorenzo, who was arrested Wednesday after a Bozeman bank reported they believed a man had committed a theft. Arena told law enforcement he was going to retrieve Lorenzo’s property from the locked rental car and then bond him out of jail. Arena reportedly told officers that he had flown into Bozeman a few days prior and stated he was a “weed connoisseur” who traveled to “weed states” to visit with people about how to get into the business. Arena allegedly couldn’t remember what hotel he was staying at or if he had traveled to Billings, but explained the reason for his lack of memory was “he smokes a lot of weed.”
When Arena’s rental car was searched, $8,025.00 in cash was located, along with two cell phones, Lorenzo’s credit card, and a receipt for a 99-cent bottle of water on July 20, 2022, from Billings and a T-Mobile receipt from Colorado on June 29, 2022.
Arena reportedly denied ever having been in Colorado or Billings but explained that Lorenzo was his cousin and the two of them flew into Bozeman from New York and had split ways. Arena denied ever having any knowledge of Jonathan T. Dugan, who was another man arrested Wednesday after a Bozeman bank reported they believed he had committed a theft. The bank told Bozeman Police officers Dugan had been at two different Billings branches of First Security Bank earlier the same day and had reportedly withdrawn $7,000 in cash from customer’s accounts.
A Bozeman Police detective then contacted the Dillon Police Department in Dillon, Colo. A sergeant provided the BPD detective information about a string of bank frauds during the week of June 28, 2022. During that string of criminal activity, Dugan was arrested and had at least two accomplices that were not identified in Colorado. During approximately four days around June 28, 2022, Dugan and his accomplices were successful in stealing approximately $70,150.00.
When the detective spoke with Dugan at the Gallatin County Detention Center and showed him a picture of Arena, Dugan reportedly knew Arena as “Ray” and thought “Ray” was Lorenzo’s brother. Dugan denied seeing Arena in Montana until he saw him come into the detention center. Dugan reportedly told the detective that Arena was the person who drove him around in Colorado and provided him with the false documents while he was there.
