The office of District Attorney Richard Brown has announced the indictment of thirteen individuals involved in a complex identity theft/counterfeit ring that ran its operation out of Queens.
The ring allegedly stole bank account and personal identification numbers (PIN) using the Internet and proceeded to fund nationwide shopping sprees.
The DA’s office cautioned that these types of crimes continue to flourish as the number of Internet financial transactions continues to grow. Every year millions of dollars are lost by consumers, businesses and financial institutions. And Brown promises they “… will be vigorously investigated and prosecuted.”
According to the indictment, the defendants allegedly defrauded scores of unsuspecting consumers, retailers and financial institutions between June 24, 2011 and March 23, 2012. Credit card account numbers were fraudulently obtained through various means. The numbers were then used in the black market manufacture of forged credit and identification cards.
With the phony cards in hand, “shoppers” for the group went out on “shopping expeditions in Long Island, Upstate and New Jersey, as well as Delaware, Florida and Pennsylvania. They used a combination of counterfeit credit cards, stolen account and PIN information, counterfeit currency and counterfeit Traveler’s Cheques to make purchases.
In some instances, the defendants allegedly resold the purchased items and in some cases, when traveler’s cheques were used, returned the items for cash.
Best Buy, Home Depot, Loehmann’s, Walgreens and Sephora were all listed as retail victims in the scheme.
The defendants are charged with first-, second- and third-degree identity theft; third- and fourth-degree grand larceny; first- and second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument; first-degree falsifying business records; petit larceny; first-degree scheme to defraud and fifth-degree conspiracy.
Isijola Olusegan (a/k/a Shea Black), 21, of Elmont, has been identified as the alleged boss of the ring and of the 13 total defendants, six were Queens residents . Simone Abraham (a/k/a School Safety), 29, of Jamaica; Jamel Bartholomew, 27, of Rockaway; Michael Cruz, 31, of Queens Village; Ari Parham, 22, of Rockaway Beach and Sarah Powell, 24, of Queens Village.
Authorities learned of the ring as part of the investigation of a massive $13 million credit card and identity fraud ring with a worldwide reach – dubbed “Operation Swiper” – that was dismantled last October with the arrests and indictments of 111 defendants. To date, 75 of those defendants have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced to a minimum average of 5 years in prison.
