18 Charged in Credit card Fraud

[Laaloo]

18 charged in Jersey City-based credit card fraud ring that stole $200 million: feds NEWARK -- A sophisticated international credit card fraud ring based in Jersey City stole more than $200 million, federal authorities said today in announcing the arrest of 18 people, who face up to 30 years in prison. "This type of fraud increases the cost of doing business for every American consumer, every day," United State Attorney for New Jersey Paul Fishman said of the allegations that resulted in the arrest of Nasreen Aktar, 37, of Jersey City, and 17 others. Fishman announced the unsealing of the indictment at a news conference in Newark this morning. The scheme spanned 28 states and eight countries, officials said, adding that the investigation is ongoing and more arrests are possible. When asked if the ring was headquartered in Jersey City, Fishman said "I think that's fair to say." Fishman said Ashu Jewels, Tanishq Jewels and Raja Jewels, all on the same block of Newark Avenue in Jersey City, participated in the ring. All three jewelry stores have been closed by federal authorities and a large amount of inventory has been seized. In April 2011, feds and Jersey City police raided the stores. The ring allegedly made 25,000 fake credit cards by using roughly 7,000 false identities and hundreds of fake drivers' licenses to open the accounts. The ring would then build up the credit rating and the borrowing limit of the cardholder by using various fraudulent methods before maxing out the cards and leaving the credit card companies with the unpaid balances. There were 13 arrests made and search warrants were executed today, Fishman said, adding that four defendants were arrested previously and three of those have already pleaded guilty. http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2013/02/18_charged_in_jersey_city-base.html 3 blocks from my house. Shameless :headshake:

[jairamesh]

The more important question is, any Gujju involved?

[gs]

jersey chor?

[ganeshran]

The real boss of the operation is still posting on ICF :--D

[Laaloo]

The more important question is' date=' any Gujju involved?[/quote'] Doubt it. One of the guys name is Nasreen Akhtar. I think most were punjabis.

[seedhi]

Lyndhurst man charged in $200 million credit card fraud ring; 18 charged in total NEWARK- Federal agents announced Tuesday, Feb. 5, the bust of a $200 million credit card fraud ring, one of the largest in Department of Justice's history. Lyndhurst resident Vinod Dadlani, 49 , was among the 13 people charged in four states. Eighteen in all were charged. Criminals invented close to 7,000 false identities to fraudulently obtain tens of thousands of credit cards and doctor credit reports to boost their spending and borrowing power on the cards, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced in a release. Authorities said the members spent as much as possible, not repaying the debts, and thereby looted businesses and financial intuitions out of $200 million across dozens of states and countries. Federal authorities said the ring members used a three-part scheme to obtain the thousands of fraudulent credit cards. First, the members would "make up" an identity using falsified documents with a major credit bureau. Next, they would "pump up" the credit of that identity to boost spending power. Lastly, the members would "run up" large loans. To carry the scheme off successfully, the members constructed an elaborate network of fake identities, authorities stated. Co-conspirators maintained over 1,800 drop addresses including houses, apartments and post office boxes. They also created sham companies and opened merchant credit cards under them. The ring also used a sophisticated network of black market businesses called tradeline providers and complicit businesses, like jewelry stores in Jersey City, to extract money from their fraudulent cards, the USAO reported. Dadlani was arrested along with Nasreen Akhtar, 37, of Jersey City; Babar Quereshi, 59, Sat Verma, 60, Vijay Verma, 45, Tarsem Lal, 74, all of Iselin; Vernina Adams, 31 of Philadelphia; Muhammad Naveed, 35 of Flushing; Raghbir Singh, 57, and Ijaz Butt, 53, both of Hicksville; Shahid Raza, 44, Qaiser Khan, 48, and Habib Chaudhary, 45, all of Valley Stream, NY; Azhar Ikram, 39 of Howard Beach, NY; Shafique Ahmed, 52 of Floral Park; Mohammad Khan, 48, and Khawaja Ikram of Staten Island; and Muhammad Shafiq, 38 of Bellerose, NY, authorities reported. While millions were spent by the conspirators to maintain their network of drop addresses and other operations, the defendants used their proceeds to create lavish lifestyles for themselves, buying luxury cars, electronics, spa treatments, expensive clothing and millions in gold, federal agents allege. About $70,000 in cash was found in the oven of one defendant. Millions more were wired to accounts overseas. Close to $60 million in proceeds were wired to Pakistan, India, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, Romania, China and Japan through 169 bank accounts, sham companies and complicit businesses, authorities reported. "This type of fraud increases the costs of doing business for every American consumer, every day," Fishman said. "Through their greed and their arrogance, the individuals arrested today and their conspirators allegedly harmed not only the credit card issuers, but everyone who deals with increased interest rates and fees because of the money sucked out of the system by criminals acting in fraud rings like this one." Cyber crime investigators first launched an investigation 18 months ago, stemming from the arrest of four individuals and the seizure of more than $2 million in gold from a jewelry store in Jersey City. The 13 members were arrested through the coordination of hundreds of law enforcement officers from the FBI, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Attorney's Office, Social Security Administration U.S. Postal Inspection Service and agencies in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. Each was charged with one court of bank fraud, punishable by up to 30 years in prison and a fine of $1 million, federal officials announced. They are scheduled to appear before Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark on Tuesday. http://www.northjersey.com/news/189897491_Lyndhurst_man_among_13_charged_in__200_million_credit_card_fraud_ring.html?c=y&page=2

Wow! Massive, massive scam! Nice example of religious harmony also - Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isaai sab involved hain.

[panther]

Ijaz butt :hysterical::hysterical:

[Lurker]

Insurance and credit card and probably the biggest scams of the kind that can happen to common citizens. It is not very difficult to steal someone's identity or fake a new one.

[Ram]

Well, given the utter lack of morality/ethics in the way most Indian businessmen operate in India, its only expected that some of that trickles into our diaspora as well.