TMCnet News
United States Attorney Charges Nine Former Cell Phone Company Employees with Stealing Customer Information in $15 Million Cell Phone Cloning Scheme(Targeted News Service Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 -- The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York issued the following news release: PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and BRIAN PARR, the Special Agentin-Charge of the New York Field Office of the United States Secret Service ("USSS"), announced today the unsealing of a Complaint charging nine defendants - all former employees of a national cell phone service provider - with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft for their alleged roles in a $15 million cell phone cloning scheme. The following eight defendants were arrested earlier today: LUIS ABAD, MATHEWS ANGEL, LESLY ESQUEA, FRANCIS LOPEZ, LUIS ORRIOLS, PEDRO RODRIGUEZ, JOHNNY SANTANA, and JACKLIN VOLNY, a/k/a "Jeff Volny." ABAD, ANGEL, LOPEZ, ORRIOLS, RODRIGUEZ, and SANTANA are expected to be presented today in the federal courthouse in White Plains, New York. ESQUEA, and VOLNY were arrested in Florida and are expected to be presented today in the federal courthouse in the Middle District of Florida. A ninth defendant, PRINCETTA DORISMA, remains at large. According to the Complaint unsealed today in White Plains federal court: From at least January 2010 through June 2010, the nine defendants worked for a national cell phone service provider (the "Cell Phone Company"). PEDRO RODRIGUEZ and JOHNNY SANTANA worked at stores located in the Bronx, New York; LUIS ABAD, MATHEWS ANGEL, FRANCIS LOPEZ, and LUIS ORRIOLS worked at a store located in North Bergen, New Jersey; and PRINCETTA DORISMA, LESLY ESQUEA, and JACKLIN VOLNY worked at a store located in Tampa, Florida. During this time period, the defendants used the Cell Phone Company's computer network to obtain confidential information about the cell phones of thousands of customers of the Cell Phone Company without authorization. Together, the nine defendants accessed customer accounts over 16,000 times without authorization. The customer information that they obtained was used to create "clones" of the customers' cell phones. These cell phone clones were then used to make unauthorized calls, which usually began just days after one of the defendants accessed the defrauded customer's account. The cell phone clones were used to make approximately $15 million worth of calls, including a large volume of international calls. The Cell Phone Company has credited its defrauded customers for the value of these calls. * * * LUIS ABAD, 24, of West New York, New Jersey; MATHEWS ANGEL, 23, of West New York, New Jersey; PRINCETTA DORISMA, 23, of Tampa, Florida; LESLY ESQUEA, 27, of Tampa, Florida; FRANCIS LOPEZ, 25, of Weehawken, New Jersey; LUIS ORRIOLS, 22, of Jersey City, New Jersey; PEDRO RODRIGUEZ, 30, of the Bronx, New York; JOHNNY SANTANA, 29, of Yonkers, New York; and JACKLIN VOLNY, 36, of Riverview, Florida, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which caries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, access device fraud, which caries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, and aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 2 years in prison, which must run consecutively to all other counts of conviction. Manhattan U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA said: "The defendants arrested today allegedly breached our everyday telecommunications system to obtain information used clone the cell phones of thousands of unsuspecting customers. Fraud was allegedly their calling card to the tune of $15 million. We intend to prosecute these defendants and others who would undermine and exploit these essential services to the full extent of the law." BRIAN PARR, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the United States Secret Service, said: "The U.S. Secret Service will continue to aggressively pursue those that commit fraud and identity theft for their own enrichment. These crimes remain a top investigative priority for our agency." Mr. BHARARA praised the USSS for its outstanding work in investigating this case. He also thanked the Yonkers Police Department and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office in Florida for their assistance with today's arrests. This case is being handled by the Office's White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorney JEFFREY ALBERTS is in charge of this prosecution. The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. TNS MkTanz-JF78-100903-2985249 StaffFurigay (c) 2010 Targeted News Service |