A Dorchester man was indicted Wednesday for his role in a complex scheme to steal $4 million from more than a dozen banks and customers.

Charles “Chip’’ Washington allegedly used impersonators, shell companies, and fake driver’s licenses to dip into bank accounts of wealthy individuals since 2013, according to court documents filed by investigators in federal court.

Washington, 42, has been charged with one count of bank fraud and four counts of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, according to US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz’s office. Customers with large accounts at Citizens Bank, Santander, TD Bank, and Harvard University Employees Credit Union were among those targeted.

Washington and his coconspirators, who were not identified in documents, are accused of paying for personal information that banks use to verify customers, including Social Security numbers.

Washington and others recruited runners who were about the same age and gender as an account holder to go to bank branches and impersonate customers, forging their signatures and withdrawing as much money as they could from the accounts, officials said. The runners hit several bank branches over a few days, before the real customer could detect that somebody was fraudulently withdrawing money from his or her account.

Deirdre Fernandes can be reached at deirdre.fernandes@globe.com.