Monday, February 8, 2010 at 9:46AM Augustus C. Okoye, age 47, of 278 Brush Hill Road, Milton, who is charged in an Information with three counts of wire fraud and one count of identity fraud.He is alleged to have used his brother’s name, social security number, and date of birth to obtain mortgage loans for the purchase of three properties in and around the Boston area.
Friday, November 13, 2009 at 10:19AM In the following press release Michael W. Reap, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri announced that Susan Feaman, formerly of Perryville, Missouri, has pleaded guilty to charges of interstate transportation of stolen property and identity theft.
On March 6, 2006, a detective from the Perryville, Missouri, Police Department obtained a search warrant for the residence of Susan Feaman in Perryville. The warrant was based upon Feaman’s criminal conduct in using forged prescriptions to obtain controlled substance prescription drugs. In executing the search warrant, officers seized materials relating to the forged prescription conduct, as well as materials reflecting Feaman’s use of her mother’s name and social security number. Her mother has lived in another state for many years. In the time frame from October 1, 2005, to December 31, 2005, Feaman used the the name, social security number and credit worthiness of her mother to obtain a loan in the amount of $145,000, to purchase the residence in Perryville, Missouri. In addition to the residential loan, Feaman used her mother’s identification information to obtain credit cards and to make credit transactions with approximately twenty-five companies. She made $271,000 in fraudulent credit purchases and other transactions in 2005 and 2006.
As part of the investigation in this case, Feaman was prosecuted in Perry County on felony charges relating to the forged prescriptions. She plead guilty and was sentenced to four years in the Missouri Department of Corrections. She served that sentence and was paroled.
From April 1, 2009, through April 12, 2009, Feaman stole a series of Steuben Crystal glass figurines from the Sallie Home store in Ladue, Missouri, which she took to her home in Ellis Grove IL. She sold some of the items on E-Bay and kept some others. The figurines had a value of $15,120.
SUSAN FEAMAN, presently residing in Ellis Grove, Illinois, pleaded guilty to one felony count of interstate transportation of stolen property and one felony count of identity theft. She appeared before United States District Judge Donald J. Stohr.
She now faces a maximum penalty of ten years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000 for interstate transportation of stolen property and 15 years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000 for identity theft. Sentencing has been set for February 5, 2010.
Reap commended the work performed on the case by the United States Secret Service, United States Postal Inspection Service, the Perryville and Ladue Police Departments and Assistant United States Attorney James E. Crowe, Jr., who is handling the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Monday, November 9, 2009 at 9:20AM In the following press release United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California announced that a Thousand Oaks man was sentenced today to 95 months in federal prison for orchestrating an identity theft scheme in which he used personal identifying information taken from dozens of mortgage and credit files to fraudulently obtain credit cards that were used to purchase more than $1 million in goods and services.
Visanio Eugene Vann, 47, was sentenced this morning by United States District Judge S. James Otero in Los Angeles. In addition to the nearly eight-year prison term, Judge Otero ordered Vann to pay $1,047,321 in restitution to eight banks that suffered losses during the course of Vann’s nearly four-year-long scheme.
Vann pleaded guilty last November to three felony charges – mail fraud, use of unauthorized access devices (in this case, credit cards) and aggravated identity theft. Vann obtained personal identifying information and used the data to fraudulently obtain credit cards and checks from victim banks. Vann also fraudulently obtained driver’s licenses, which allowed him to use the credit cards and checks. When authorities searched Vann’s residence last year, they discovered mortgage files in the names of 145 people and 46 credit files that belonged to other people. In an attempt to conceal his activities, Vann maintained mail drops in Beverly Hills, where he had victim financial institutions send the fraudulently obtained credit cards and checks.
In issuing the 95-month prison sentence, Judge Otero considered Vann’s lengthy criminal history, which includes fraud convictions that go back 25 years, and Vann’s lavish lifestyle that included designer clothing, a Mercedes Benz CLK 430 convertible, high-end nightclubs and restaurants, and his $1,400 purchase of a purebred puppy with a fraudulent credit card.
The case against Vann is part of an ongoing investigation being conducted by the Identity Theft and Economic Crime (ITEC) Task Force which is sponsored by the Los Angeles Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service. Members of ITEC include Postal Inspectors, and agents and detectives from the United States Secret Service, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Los Angeles County Probation Department - Special Enforcement Operations Unit. ITEC was established in 2004 in response to increased complaints of identity theft in Southern California. Since its inception, the ITEC Task Force has arrested more than 260 suspects, executed nearly 530 search warrants, and seized more than $2.4 million in assets.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 at 11:07AM In the following press release John P. Kacavas, United States Attorney for the District of New Hampshire announced that a husband and wife formerly of Nashua, New Hampshire, have been indicted by federal Grand Jury for conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud and related crimes. The three count indictment charges Christina LoBrutto, 40, and Luigi or Louis LoBrutto, 41, with conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud and charges Luigi LoBrutto with making a false statement to the U.S. Bankruptcy court and aggravated identity theft.
The indictment alleges that from about April through about June 2007, the LoBruttos agreed to file a fraudulent bankruptcy petition in the name of the person who owned their Nashua home in an effort to prevent Wells Fargo Bank from foreclosing on the property. According to the indictment, the owner of the LoBruttos’ house did not consent to the use ofhis identity on the bankruptcy petition and did not authorize the filing of a bankruptcy petition in his name.
The indictment also alleges that the LoBruttos impersonated the owner of the house and his wife, retained an attorney to file the bankruptcy petition, and provided the attorneywith false identification information to be used on the petition.
In addition to conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud, Luigi LoBrutto was also charged with making a materially false statement to the Bankruptcy Court and aggravated identity theft in connection with filing a bankruptcy petition using another person’s identity.
The LoBruttos currently reside in Somerville, Massachusetts. They appeared in U.S. District Court in Concord, New Hampshire, today to be arraigned on these charges. The court ordered that they both be released under the supervision of the United States Probation Office pending trial, which was scheduled for November 3, 2009.
If convicted of conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud, the LoBruttos each face a possible maximum sentence of five years in prison and a possible maximum fine of $250,000. Luigi LoBrutto also faces a possible maximum five year prison term for making a false material statement to the Bankruptcy Court and a mandatory sentence of two years inprison for aggravated identity theft. He is also facing possible maximum fines of $250,000 for each of these crimes.
An indictment is only an allegation and not proof of criminal conduct. As in all criminal cases, the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonabledoubt.
This case is being investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark S. Zuckerman.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 9:10AM Hayung Peter Jin, age 46, of Centerville, Va., pleaded guilty today to multiple fraud charges. Dana J. Boente, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office, made the announcement after the plea was accepted by United States District Judge James C. Cacheris.
Jin was indicted on June 11, 2009, on multiple fraud charges, including aggravated identity theft. Sentencing has been set for Nov. 13, 2009. Jin faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.
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In a statement of facts filed with his plea agreement, Jin admitted that he operated a loan brokerage business, known as Business Capital and Investments, Inc., located in Annandale, Va., that served primarily Korean Americans in the Washington metropolitan area. According to the statement of facts, Jin was involved in two separate fraud schemes. In October 2005, Jin convinced a former client to sell his Loudoun County home to another person, a South Carolina businessman named Han, when in fact Han had never agreed to purchase the home. Jin then used Han’s name and social security number to obtain financing for the apparent purchase of the home, plus additional home equity loans on the home in the name of Han. The total amount of fraudulently obtained financing was $620,000.
In connection with the second scheme, in January 2007 Jin convinced a local business woman that he had obtained four borrowers who wanted to borrow funds from her in the total amount of $360,000, when in fact the alleged borrowers had never agreed to such an arrangement. Jin forged four promissory notes and gave them to the business woman in order to induce her to transfer the $360,000 to him, with the intent that he (Jin) would transfer the funds to the four “borrowers.” In reality Jin kept the funds for himself.
This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Assistant United States Attorney Stephen P. Learned prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.uspci.uscourts.gov.
Thursday, July 30, 2009 at 4:18PM In the following press release William J. Edwards, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, announced today that a four-count information has been filed against Douglas E. Shaheen charging him with two counts of bank fraud and one count each of wire fraud and access device fraud. Shaheen, age 59, resides in Strongsville, Ohio.
The information alleges that Shaheen obtained numerous loans and credit accounts totaling more than $6 million at seven different financial institutions in his father’s name without his knowledge or consent. Specifically, count one alleges that Shaheen obtained two mortgage loans for $2 million and $700,000 on a residence in Henderson, Nevada, in September 2006, in his father’s name. The information further alleges that Shaheen refinanced those loans in March 2007 for $2,764,000 and subsequently obtained another $200,000 home equity line of credit on that residence. The information charges that Shaheen also provided false and fraudulent financial information about his father to obtain these loans. The information states that Shaheen subsequently defaulted on these home mortgage loans and Coutrywide Bank sustained a substantial loss of an undisclosed amount.
Count two of the information alleges that in October 2006 Shaheen purchased a 2007 Mercedes-Benz SL65 convertible for a total purchase price of about $202,000. The information states that Shaheen purchased this vehicle jointly in his own name as well as his father’s, again without his knowledge or authorization. The information further alleges that Shaheen financed $177,362 of this purchase price and again provided false financial information about his father as well as himself. The information charges that Shaheen defaulted on this automobile loan, surrendered the vehicle in November 2008, and the Mercedes was later resold at a substantial loss. As a result, the information states that Mercedes-Benz Financial sustained a loss of $84,888.77.
Count three of the information alleges that Shaheen opened ten credit accounts and lines of credit in his father’s name at MBNA America Bank, National City Bank, U.S. Bank, and CitiBank. The information again alleges that Shaheen provided false and fraudulent financial information about his father, he used those accounts fraudulently, and subsequently defaulted on them. As a result, the information alleges that these four financial institutions sustained losses totaling $181,212.31.
Finally, count four of the information alleges that Shaheen fraudulently opened two credit accounts in his father’s name with American Express in August 2007. The information further alleges that Shaheen fraudulently used those accounts, defaulted on the balances owed, and caused American Express to incur a loss of $56,371.80.
If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the Court after review of factors unique to this case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, the defendant’s role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. In all cases the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John D. Sammon, following an investigation by the Cleveland Office of the United States Secret Service.
An information is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Friday, April 24, 2009 at 1:25PM In the following press release Frank J. Magill, United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota announced that a 43-year-old Bloomington man was indicted in federal court in connection with a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders located throughout the United States and to obtain money from those lenders through fraudulent pretenses.
Inyang Amos Inyang was charged via a superseding indictment with 10 counts of mortgage fraud through interstate wire, one count of engaging in a monetary transaction involving criminally derived property and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
[Ed. note the street numbers and names of people whose ID’s were used have been redacted from the indictment and therefore not listed here.]
Inyang’s indictment alleges that from 2003 through November 2006, he knowingly and intentionally devised and executed the scheme. Through this scheme he allegedly purchased 15 residences and caused a loss of more than $400,000 to mortgage lenders.
Part of the alleged scheme involved Inyang recruiting others to borrow money from various mortgage lenders by representing to those persons that he was in the “real estate business”and could purchase single-family homes in the recruited persons’ names on financial terms that would benefit them.
Inyang also represented to the recruited persons that he or Cytronica, a corporation he owned would make the monthly payments on the loans. However, neither he nor his corporation, which was not even operational, ever made or intended to make any mortgage payments on any of the loans.
The indictment also alleges that Inyang obtained various means of identification from the recruited persons, such as birth dates, Social Security numbers and driver’s license information, as well as a signed power of attorney forms which he then used to obtain mortgage loans in their names from various mortgage brokers. Inyang also allegedly completed and submitted loan applications in the names of the recruited persons that contained numerous material misrepresentations.
In those applications, Inyang allegedly represented that the applicants were highly compensated employees of Cytronica, when in fact, Cytronica conducted no business and did not employ any people. In addition, Inyang allegedly attached false and fraudulent W-2 forms and corresponding falsified pay stubs to the loan applications in the names of the recruited people.
The indictment also alleges that Inyang represented in the loan applications that the recruited people would reside in the single-family homes to be purchased, when in fact, none ever did. Instead, Inyang allegedly resided in them, and he allegedly closed many of the real estate transactions in the names of the recruited people without their knowledge or consent.
Inyang allegedly caused the closing company to pay him or Cytronica substantial fraudulent commissions or fees. In addition, Inyang allegedly avoided the persons he recruited after using their means of identification to purchase homes. The indictment alleges that on Sept. 5, 2006, Inyang knowingly used the proceeds of the wire fraud to purchase a cashier’s check in the amount of $21,899.35.
If convicted, Inyang faces a potential maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each mortgage fraud count, 10 years on the monetary transaction count and a mandatory minimum penalty of two years in prison for each aggravated identity theft count. All sentences are determined by a federal district court judge.
This case is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Secret Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. MacLaughlin.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at 7:52AM Lev L. Dassin, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, ANDREW CUOMO, the Attorney General of the State of New York, and RICHARD H. NEIMAN, the Superintendent for the New York State Banking Department, announced today that TAHIR ALI KHAN, the leader of a ring that used fake identification documents to bilk over 50 financial institutions out of more than $24 million, was sentenced today by United States District Judge LORETTA A. PRESKA to 14 years in prison. KHAN was indicted, along with 14 other co-defendants, in a multi-count Indictment unsealed on August 15, 2007.
Today’s sentence follows KHAN’s guilty plea on November 25, 2008, to a four-count Superseding Information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit credit card fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
As set forth in the Government’s sentencing submission and other public filings in this case, KHAN headed a ring that produced false identification documents in fictitious names. The documents, purporting to have been issued by state and federal government authorities, included driver’s licenses, resident alien cards, social security cards, and tax identification documents.
In order to build financial credit for the fictitious identities, members of KHAN’s ring, among other things, fraudulently established bank accounts, credit card accounts, apartment leases, and telephone and utility accounts in the names of the fictitious identities. Participants in the ring also applied for and obtained lucrative bank loans, home mortgage loans, increased credit card limits, lines of credit, and other financial benefits in the names of the fictitious identities or in the names of sham businesses supposedly operated by those fictitious identities. The loans and credit card debt were then defaulted on, resulting in millions in losses to numerous financial institutions. Losses from the ring’s fraudulent activities exceeded $24 million.
In sentencing KHAN to 14 years in prison, Judge PRESKA stated that KHAN had been involved in “a vast array of crimes, of frauds and thefts, extending well over a decade.” Judge PRESKA further noted that KHAN committed those crimes charged in the Superseding Information while a fugitive from justice. As set forth in the Government’s sentencing submission, after federal authorities arrested KHAN on August 15, 2007, they learned through a fingerprint match that KHAN had been previously arrested federally in 1995, in California, under the name “Jonathan Branscum,” but that KHAN absconded in that case after being granted bail. KHAN dropped the name “Jonathan Branscum,” and moved to the New York area, using a different name.
Judge PRESKA further stated that KHAN’s “entry into the United States was itself the subject of identity theft.” Count Three of the Superseding Information, to which KHAN pleaded guilty, charged KHAN with stealing the identity of a real person, “Waheed Khan,” in order to obtain a permanent resident card and other immigration benefits. In addition to the prison term, Judge PRESKA sentenced KHAN to three years of supervised release, restitution in the amount of $24,649,890.32, and forfeiture of items seized in August 2007 from KHAN’s homes in Alabama and New York.
Acting United States Attorney LEV L. DASSIN said this investigation is “a model of cooperation between federal, state and local prosecutors and investigative agencies.”
New York Attorney General ANDREW CUOMO said, “TAHIR ALI KHAN developed a comprehensive scheme to steal millions of dollars from an overburdened financial industry, and now he is paying for his crimes. My office will continue to aggressively pursue those whose greed supersedes their regard for the law in New York State.”
“We are pleased to have participated in this joint investigation and successful prosecution,” said RICHARD H. NEIMAN, Superintendent of Banks for the State of New York. “As this case demonstrates, law enforcement agencies will continue to work closely to aggressively pursue individuals who attempt to take advantage of our banking system. I commend the Banking Department’s Criminal Investigations Bureau staff for their work over the last four years on this matter.”
Of the sixteen defendants charged in the Indictment, KHAN, 32, most recently of Hoover, Alabama, is the twelfth defendant to plead guilty and the sixth to be sentenced. PRADIPT SHARMA was granted a deferred prosecution agreement. Criminal charges remain pending against four defendants, including MUHAMMAD SHARIF, ARIE BENSHIMON, SYED HASSAN, and SYED SHAH, who remains a fugitive. As to those defendants, the charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case is being jointly prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the New York State Attorney General’s Office. The prosecution resulted from a 16-month investigation conducted by the New York State Attorney General’s Office, the New York City Police Department, New York State Police, the Hoover, Alabama Police Department, and the New York State Banking Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, the New York City Department of Probation, the Social Security Administration, and the United States Secret Service. Mr. DASSIN and Mr. CUOMO thanked those agencies for their assistance.
Mr. DASSIN praised the work of the Attorney General’s Office, the New York State Banking Department, and other state, local and federal law enforcement agencies in the investigation, stating that the indictment dismantled an extremely active and aggressive criminal ring that caused more than $24 million in losses to financial institutions in New York and other states.
Assistant United States Attorneys LISA ZORNBERG and ANNA ARREOLA, and Assistant Attorney General MERYL LUTSKY — who is designated as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in this case - are in charge of the prosecution.
