fbi.gov - 5 Feb 2013
Crime Ring Invented 7,000 Fake Identities to Obtain Tens of Thousands of Credit CardsNEWARK—Federal agents in four states arrested 13 people today for allegedly creating thousands of phony identities to steal at least $200 million in one of the largest credit card fraud schemes ever charged by the Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.
The activity described in a complaint unsealed today describes a sprawling criminal enterprise that stretched across dozens of states and numerous countries. The defendants charged in the complaint allegedly fabricated identities to obtain credits cards and doctored credit reports to pump up the spending and borrowing power associated with the cards. They would then borrow or spend as much as they could based on their fraudulently obtained credit history and not repay the debts, looting businesses and financial institutions of more than $200 million in confirmed losses.
This morning, hundreds of law enforcement officers from the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service arrested 13 defendants and searched 13 locations in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. All the defendants are charged with one count of bank fraud. The defendants are scheduled to appear later today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark federal court.
http://www.fbi.gov/newark/press-releases/2013/eighteen-people-charged-in-international-200-million-credit-card-fraud-scam
