Undocumented Immigrants Linking to Identity Theft: A myth or a lie?

Over the course of a year, defendants Anderton and Kirsch used the identities of more than 16 victims in numerous illegal transactions to obtain more than $119,000 in cash and merchandise. They also made failed attempts to obtain more than $122,000 in additional cash and merchandise. I want to pointed out were we do not want to believe that the genuine identities of possibly hundreds of thousands of US citizens are being stolen or hijacked by Citizens and criminal organizations and not by Undocumented Immigrants which we tended to blame because they do not have a Political voice either legal representation.

The government has used the charges against Undocumented Workers with the possibility of prison time to persuade people to plead guilty to lesser immigration violations. In other cases, defendants have been convicted of "aggravated identity theft," even without proof that they knew their phony ID numbers belonged to real people. The central question is whether the defendant must know that the counterfeit identification belongs to someone else. Federal prosecutors have increasingly been bringing the more serious identity theft charges against undocumented immigrants.

Defense lawyers have argued that their clients should not be charged with stealing an identity because the immigrants were seeking documentation only to allow them to work. They didn't know if the numbers were fictitious or belonged to someone else.

When a person makes up a Social Security number, having no idea whether it belongs to someone else, it is hard to see how that conduct qualifies as 'theft' - much less 'aggravated theft. So what about the person who knows and have an idea who's that number belongs to?

Jocelyn Kirsch, 23, of Novato, California, was sentenced today to five years in prison for her role in an extensive identity theft and fraud scheme, announced Acting United States Attorney Laurie Magid. Kirsch pleaded guilty in July 2008, to conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, access device fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering. Between November 2006 and November 30, 2007, Kirsch and co-defendant Edward Anderton stole identity information, credit cards, and credit card account information from numerous victims, including friends, co-workers, neighbors, fellow students, bar patrons, and others, and used those stolen materials extensively to buy merchandise and obtain cash. Anderton pleaded guilty in June 2008 and is scheduled for sentencing on November 14, 2008. In addition to the prison terms, United States District Court Judge Eduardo Robreno ordered Kirsch to pay $101,033 restitution, a $600 special assessment, and to complete five years of supervised release.

Over the course of a year, defendants Anderton and Kirsch used the identities of more than 16 victims in numerous illegal transactions to obtain more than $119,000 in cash and merchandise. They also made failed attempts to obtain more than $122,000 in additional cash and merchandise. The defendants used the proceeds of their fraud scheme to help fund their lavish lifestyle that included trips to Florida, Paris, Hawaii, Montreal, and the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Philadelphia Police Department, The University of Pennsylvania Police Department, and the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Louis D. Lappen and Special Assistant United States Attorney Lisa Caulfield

Undocumented Immigrants draining Social Services?. A Myth or a Lie?

HEALTH CARE COMPANY OWNER PLEADS GUILTY TO MEDICAL IDENTITY THEFT AND MEDICARE FRAUD.


WASHINGTON – A La Crescenta man pleaded guilty today to federal criminal charges of defrauding Medicare by using patients’ Medicare identification numbers without their knowledge, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Matthew Friedrich and U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Thomas P. O’Brien announced. Between August 2003 and April 2008, Melkon Gabriyelyan, 51, billed the Medicare program for more than $1,640,000.

Gabriyelyan pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of health care fraud before U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Judge Real scheduled Gabriyelyan’s sentencing for Jan. 12, 2009. At sentencing, Gabriyelyan faces a maximum term of 12 years in prison for his crimes.

According to the plea agreement, Gabriyelyan admitted owning and operating TA Medical Supply, a durable medical equipment (DME) company located in the Tujunga area of Los Angeles. In his plea agreement, Gabriyelyan acknowledged that beginning in January 2004 he fraudulently billed Medicare for DME purportedly supplied to Medicare beneficiaries. Gabriyelyan submitted false claims to Medicare for orthotic braces, power wheelchairs and other DME that were not delivered to Medicare beneficiaries, were not prescribed by the physicians listed on the claims that he made or were not medically necessary.

Gabriyelyan also acknowledged in the plea agreement that to accomplish the fraud he knowingly and willfully stole the identity of a Medicare beneficiary for the purpose of submitting false claims. He admitted billing a back brace and two knee braces that the beneficiary did not need or receive, and that the patient had no knowledge of. In addition, Gabriyelyan admitted that he created a patient file for this beneficiary that contained a delivery slip with the beneficiary’s forged signature.

“Medical identity theft is a growing problem that poses significant harm to both the Medicare program and the patients whose personal information is stolen,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich. “The Department will continue fighting to protect the rights of Medicare patients as well as prosecuting individuals who defraud the Medicare program.”

“Medical identity theft is a striking example of the kind of fraud we are combating in the Los Angeles area. One new weapon in our arsenal is our Strike Force operations, which seek not only to protect American taxpayers from Medicare fraud, but protect the private and personal information of all patients,” said U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien.

Gabriyelyan was arrested in May 2008 following an investigation by the Medicare Fraud Strike Force (MFSF). The MFSF is a multi-agency team of federal, state and local prosecutors and agents designed to combat Medicare fraud. Strike force operations began in the Los Angeles area on March 1, 2008. The MFSF is led by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section in Washington, D.C., and the office of U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien of the Central District of California. Since the inception of MFSF operations in 2007, federal prosecutors have indicted 104 cases with 184 defendants in both Los Angeles and Miami. Collectively, these defendants fraudulently billed the Medicare program for more than half a billion dollars.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret L. Carter, and is being investigated by the FBI; the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General; the California Department of Justice; the Bureau of Medical Fraud and Elder Abuse; and the Los Angeles County Health Authority Law Enforcement Task Force.

Illegals responsible for Identity theft? a Myth or a lie?

Medical identity theft is a striking example of the kind of fraud we are going to talk . One new weapon in our arsenal is our Strike Force operations, which seek not only to protect American taxpayers from Medicare fraud, but protect the private and personal information of all patients. For instance, In recent raids many Undocumented Immigrants were offered a choice between pleading guilty to a lesser charge, resulting in five months in prison, followed by deportation without appearing before an immigration judge, or the possibility of a two-year mandatory sentence under the 2004 law. I had exposed many cases of Identity theft and Medical Fraud that I can't believe there are narrow minded people blaming and making undocumented Immigrants responsible for the actions of a few American Citizens. Unbelievable!!!!!!......

Under pressure from the toughest crackdown on Undocumented immigration in two decades, employers across the country are fighting back in state legislatures, the federal courts and city halls. Business groups have resisted measures that would revoke the licenses of employers of Undocumented immigrants. They are proposing alternatives that would revise federal rules for verifying the identity documents of new hires and would expand programs to bring legal immigrant laborers.

Federal prosecutors pursuing Undocumented immigrants have a favorite tool: a 2004 law that imposes a mandatory two-year prison sentence on some people who commit identity fraud. The Supreme Court agreed to decide just how blunt that instrument is.

The question in the case, one that has divided the federal appeals courts, is whether workers who use false Social Security and alien registration numbers must know that they belong to a real person to be subject to a two-year sentence extension for “aggravated identity theft.” Put another way: Is it identity theft to pick nine random numbers out of the air and submit them as a Social Security number if that number turns out to belong to a real person?

The 2004 law makes it a crime to use knowingly, “without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person” in connection with a variety of other offenses.

The Supreme Court summed up the problem this way: “It is not at all clear how far down the sentence the word ‘knowingly’ is intended to travel.”

Undocumented Immigrants responsible for Identity theft? Pack of Lies.

Arrests Made in Major Bank Fraud and Identity Theft Scheme

Richard K. Ruminski, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Milwaukee Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced today the arrests of MICHAEL B. VORCE, age 31 and JAMES C. JETT, age 29. The two suspects were arrested without incident by FBI special agents from the Milwaukee and Chicago Divisions on 8/27/08.

In a criminal complaint, the two suspects are charged with knowingly executing a scheme to defraud a financial institution, in violation of 18 United States Code Section 1344; and knowingly conspiring to defraud a financial institution in violation of 18 United States Code Section 371.

This multi-state bank fraud and identity theft scheme involves at least $2.6 million, and at least four financial institutions. The investigation is continuing as the individuals appear to be part of a larger fraud scheme. The bank fraud and identity theft committed involved the use of stolen personal information from victims and the use of the personal information to obtain high-dollar loans from financial institutions, purportedly to purchase boats. In some instances, the vessels themselves were fictitious.

Because of law enforcement’s focus on mortgage fraud, criminals may now be targeting alternative high-end items such as large boats to facilitate their fraud schemes.

The public is reminded that a criminal complaint is merely a method by which to charge individuals with criminal conduct. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty

Identity Theft: Impersonating FBI Agent.

MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO IMPERSONATING FBI AGENT



Baltimore, Maryland - Edwin G. Johnson, age 25, of Washington , D.C., pleaded guilty today to impersonating a federal officer, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

According to the plea agreement, on April 26, 2008, Johnson picked up a prostitute, K.R., drove to a near by vacant parking lot and after a discussion involving K.R. performing a sexual act for money, Johnson identified himself as a federal agent and that K.R. was under arrest. Johnson advised K.R. that he and other agents were investigating stabbings in the area and that they were conducting sweeps. Johnson told K.R. that he would not arrest her and that he wanted to help her. K.R. performed a sexual act on Johnson. Afterwards, Johnson drove K.R. to her residence where he had sexual relations with her. Johnson reiterated that he was a federal agent working undercover and that his office was in the “ Hoover Building ” in Washington D.C. Johnson departed K.R.’s residence without paying her for the sexual services. Over the next several days, Johnson initiated contact with K.R. by telephone calls and text messaging. On May 28, 2008 , Johnson came to K.R.’s residence and again represented himself to be a federal agent. He had sexual relations with K.R. and departed without paying her.

K.R. contacted the FBI which initiated an investigation that confirmed that Johnson was not an agent or employee of the United States . Under FBI supervision, K.R. tape recorded telephone conversations with Johnson in which he stated that he was a FBI agent working in an undercover capacity.

Johnson faces a maximum sentence of three years in prison, followed by one year of supervised release. U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake has scheduled sentencing for September 26, 2008 at 2:00 p.m.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation for its investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorney Stephen M. Schenning, who is prosecuting the case.

Comprehensive Immigration reform an Identity and a hope stolen!!!!!

Characterisation of identity crime varies widely, with inconsistent use of terms such as identity theft, impersonation, fraud, forgery, false pretences, spoofing, misappropriation and even identity pollution, vandalism and assault.
In all relationships private and public, lies are used to protect or promote one's self or others. There are institutional lies to sell, to protect turf, to improve competition, to motivate staff, and so forth. There are lies in politics, advertising, and education. There are even lies in medicine: doctors to patients and patients to their doctors. Deception is plentiful—it is there all the time; we just do not like to look at it.

Last year Americans were not fair and balance appropriation with Undocumented Immigrants when they were discussing Immigration issues. They were accused, criminalized, persecuted, diminished, scapegoated, blamed for bringing diseases and for Stealing identities but the major roles on this unfairly public debate were the Anti's, the so called patriots, Nativists and many others. I want to exposed one of the issues were Undocumented Immigrants are part of the solution and not the problem.

what is identity

That range derives from the nature of identity, particularly the nature of identity in urban environments within advanced economies.

Many people conceptualise identity as static and readily discernable, implicit in notions that 'I am who I am ... and everyone can see that without much difficulty'. In reality identity is far more mutable. In most circumstances it is a manifestation of social relationships, not of innate characteristics.

Those relationships may be as fundamental (and thus invisible) as gender or age, although even those attributes may be 'negotiated' through mechanisms such as clothing, a haircut and application of Photoshop to a student ID card. They may instead be as malleable as possession of a key or clipboard, with a long history of incidents in which scammers were provided with access to a restricted facility or removed assets merely because they wore the right uniform and looked authoritative. If your identity is your credit card you may face difficulty in environments where a transaction does not necessitate directly sighting the plastic or the person at the checkout is so alienated that Mickey Mouse could be providing the signature.

Identity is performed. As a result it can be subverted.

offences

Identity offences abound and as the following pages indicate have taken a variety of forms, from hackers wholesaling stolen credit card details to honey-tongued conmen and women who recurrently sold the Eiffel Tower or 'true' stories of their triumph over adversity.

Statute and case law regarding those offences is similarly diverse.

There is considerable disagreement within and between governments regarding the conceptualisation of identity offences (sometimes narrowly construed as only involving financial loss) and corresponding terminology.

A common element to all offences is simply 'identity' rather than financial injury and that accordingly we can discern three broad groups of offences -

Identity theft
Identity enhancement
Identity pollution

Identity theft

Identity theft has been hyped as the "crime of the century" or even "of the millennium" but is as old as the hills, discernable since the beginning of history and evident in tales such as Rebekah and Jacob's deception of Isaac.

Identity theft involves appropriation of someone else's identity for personal gain.

That appropriation might involve unauthorised use of a checkbook, a credit card or a deposit account. It might involve ordering/receiving goods or services in the guise of someone else, for wining and dining through Europe after persuading your hosts that you are a famous film star, director, author or political figure. It might involve using someone else's name to commit a crime; some of the nastier identity thieves have used the names of dead children

Identity Enhancement

Identity enhancement involves action intended to provide the offender with some advantage, often a financial advantage. It is distinguishable from identity theft because the fraud involves the offender's own identity rather than appropriation of someone else's identity. It may be additive or substractive.Subtractive identity enhancement involves deletion of inconvenient, even deeply stigmatised, attributes from a curriculum vitae or other representation - for example airbrushing a criminal conviction, bankruptcy or other problem from a cv. The vicissitudes of major corporations whose executives are revealed to have lied about their personal history may provide hours of amusement (were the headhunters asleep?) and welfare fraud (omitting to report employment in order to receive income support) may be an acceptable cost of the liberal democratic state but health scandals in Australia and elsewhere indicate the seriousness of 'cooking' a cv. Would you blithely go under the knife if you knew, for example, that the surgeon had been struck off the medical register in another jurisdiction over egregious malpractice involving the death or serious disfigurement of numerous patients?Additive identity enhancement, as the term suggests, involves improving the offender's public persona by adding the bling that is desirable in a credentialist society - unearned academic or professional qualifications (why stop at an MBA when you can give yourself a PhD?), military honours, sports trophies and awards from peers. At a more mundane level, as practiced by many students, it can involve adding a few years to their proof of age cards or other identity documents in order to get through the doors at nightclubs or other age-restricted venues. Enhancement offences are illustrated through resume fraud.

Identity pollution takes two forms.In contrast to the preceding categories of offences, much identity pollution is typically not concerned with financial gain and not concerned to airbrush the offender's public profile. Instead it seeks to erode or destroy a victim's public reputation and self-esteem.That erosion has traditionally featured mechanisms such as letters and statements that purport to come from a political or commercial rival, the expectation being that third parties will mistakenly believe that the falsehood peddled by the offender comes from the victim and will accordingly shun the victim. Identity pollution in recent years has involved 'joe job' email messages and faxed media releases. It has also involved fake blogs, wikipedia entries and social network service profiles (in which, for example, a former lover in the guise of the victim 'reveals' that he likes to strangle kittens, engage in unorthodox sexual activities and steal money from his employer).Some identity pollution - perhaps the pollution most frequently encountered by people online - involves using someone else's identity to persuade a recipient to read (or merely to receive) an email or other communication. It is exemplified by spammers engaging in the forgery of email headers in an effort to subvert filtering (eg network operators often do not block messages that purport to come from trusted personal contacts or organisations) and to encourage a recipient to open the message that has not been filtered out by the network operator or by personal filter lists.

other perspectives

Identity Theft may be characterised as assuming the identity of someone else. As such it has a long and often colourful history, from the days when individuals claimed to be the Son of God (or other relatives) or royalty - typically having miraculously survived murderous attention by Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov, Richard III or Robespierre and emerged to claim the throne of France, Russia or England. Difficulty with authentication and the desire to believe (irrespective of signs to the contrary) meant that multiple imposters were often common.

A classic example is the thirty of so individuals claiming to be the Dauphin Louis - otherwise thought to have perished in prison during the French Revolution after his father Louis XVI met Madame Guillotine. One claimant was described as improbably "of Black appearance, with frizzy hair and slightly mad", although presumably more sane than some of his advocates.

The bureaucratisation of Western cultures over the past two hundred years has seen a shift from blood to signifiers of authority (eg the second-hand army uniform that successfully allowed tailor Wilhelm Voigt to commandeer Kopenick town hall at the beginning of last century) and thence to mundane identifiers such as AFNs and Social Security Numbers.

Economically significant ID theft now does not involve supposed heirs of Nicholas II or missing English baronets, miraculously emerging in Australia after drowning off Patagonia. It instead involves misuse of your credit card or cheque book, since in the digital era your identity is embodied in information rather than flesh - something that is explored in the Privacy guide and Surveillance & Authentication profile .

We are also starting to see what is generously described as 'spoofing' or 'joe jobs': email or even sites that purport to emanate from a public figure or private individual. That misuse of someone else's name and email address may be used to defeat restrictions on spam. It may also be used to damage a reputation, with the supposed author being incorrectly assigned responsibility for racist or other offensive comments.

Various typologies of ID crime have been suggested, reflecting different positions in the enforcement (or academic/media feeding) chain. One of the more useful categorisations suggests that in relation to financial services we should differentiate between

- short-term Identity Access
- Account Theft
- Application Fraud
- broader Identity Appropriation

Identity Access involves appropriating someone's identity for quick access to existing financial or other accounts. Typically the thief uses an individual's information to purchase services or products through either a physical credit card (eg stolen from the individual and used to rack up purchases before the financial institution queries unusual spending patterns) or that card's account number and expiration date (eg carbons from credit card slips), with the victim discovering that the account has been access when studying a monthly billing statement or online report.

Account Theft may occur over a longer time frame when a stolen identity is used to take possession of an existing account by changing existing address details. The theft has typically involved mechanisms such as thieves intercepting mail from letterboxes or removing it from an individual's possessions, thereby gaining information needed to change the address on credit card and bank accounts. Victims often attribute missing statements to loss in the postal system and discover the theft when a credit card is declined because the thief has maxed-out the card.

Application Fraud involves unauthorised creation of new accounts through a stolen identity, with the victim sometimes not aware of the theft because financial statements are mailed to a new address used by the thief. The theft is often discovered only when a collection company seeks recovery action or applications for new credit are rejected because of the hidden debt.

Identity Assumption has been a literary and Hollywood favourite, with the thief assuming the victim's identity, sometimes as a cover for the commission of non-financial crimes. Proponents of biometrics and identity reference/validation services have claimed for example that criminals have used forged driver registration documents - the de facto official and commercial ID papers in countries such as Australia - that feature the victim's name and other characteristics but the villain's photo.

Such victims supposedly most often discover the imposture when law enforcement agencies approach them about offences that they have supposedly committed. Other offenders have 'rebirthed' dead children, assuming an identity after obtaining death certificates.

Other observers have argued that damage to reputation may be as important as any pecuniary loss through misuse of a bank account or credit card, with for example long-term damage to consumer credit ratings (discussed in a separate profile) or loss of esteem in a particular community through appropriation of a real name or avatar used in an online forum.

Identity Fraud, an associated offence, has attracted a lot of media attention thanks to Nativists, Anchor News, (Lou Dobbs, Glenn Beck, Bill O;Reilly), Politicians (Tommy Tan Credo, Jeff Sessions, and some republicans).
It can take two forms

Most commonly, it involves an individual 'massaging' data: adding a degree or two, deleting a conviction or a divorce, adding a few years of age (popular among teenagers facing age-based access restrictions) or taking a few years off once the individual reaches a certain age.

As such it is popular among all classes, from high school kids enhancing ID passes to get into nightclubs through to company directors and members of parliament buffing their profiles.

More rarely, some individuals have created a new identity altogether - one that is sometimes used to live an otherwise law-abiding existence rather than as the basis for theft. Self reinvention is arguably a central theme of US culture, where - like people in the rest of the world - many have dreamed of shucking off an inconvenient past and starting afresh, often with the aid of a glossier resume and fewer wrinkles.

As discussed later in this profile, statistics about theft/fraud are problematical. In 1985 the US Congress for example noted indications that up to 500,000 false tertiary degrees are in 'use' in the USA (eg were cited for employment purposes), that 10,000 false medical degrees are in use and that 30% of employees were hired with 'massaged' credentials.

Identity crime is a generic term with broad scope to describe a wide range of identity-related offences in which a defendant uses a false identity to commit, or facilitate the commission of, a crime.
Identity fraud describes the gaining of money, goods, services or other benefits, or the avoidance of obligations, through the use of a false identity. It includes fraudulently obtaining a financial benefit (eg by credit card skimming), avoidance of taxes or financial loss, and intangible benefits, such as access to citizenship, professional affiliation, and medical services.
Identity theft describes the theft or assumption by one person of another person's identity, whether the other person is alive or dead. It may also extend to the use of a fictitious identity.

Identity Theft and Fraud is where the Law is so diverse and non Understandable of the facto to solve the Nature of Identity for an Humane and comprehensive Immigration reform rather just compiled one issue thru another to the intangible Anti Immigrant sentiment against undocumented Immigrants.

Identity Theft beyond borders

Do no guess Nativists, Protectionists, Anti Immigrants, Xenophobics, Ignorants have the mind set to blamed Undocumented Immigrants.!!!!!!!


Eleven people were indicted Tuesday for allegedly stealing more than 40 million credit and debit card numbers, federal authorities said
The indictments, which alleged that at least nine major U.S. retailers were hacked, were unsealed Tuesday in Boston, Massachusetts, and San Diego, California, prosecutors said.

It is believed to be the largest hacking case that the Justice Department has ever tried to prosecute.

Three of the defendants are from the United States; three are from Estonia; three are from Ukraine, two are from China and one is from Belarus.

The remaining individual is known only by an alias and authorities do not know where that person is.

Under the indictments, three Miami, Florida, men -- Albert "Segvec" Gonzalez, Christopher Scott and Damon Patrick Toey -- are accused of hacking into the wireless computer networks of retailers including TJX Companies, whose stores include Marshall's and T.J. Maxx, BJ's Wholesale Club, OfficeMax, Barnes and Noble and Sports Authority, among others.

The three men installed "sniffer" programs designed to capture credit card numbers, passwords and account information as they moved through the retailers' card processing networks, said Michael Sullivan, the U.S. attorney in Boston.

This has other personal numbers that could give them access to credit or debit cards that have already been issued and are active," Sullivan.

The probe began in late 2006, Sullivan said. In addition to the Justice Department, the Secret Service has been conducting an undercover investigation for more than three years through the U.S. attorney's office in San Diego, he said.

The three then concealed the data in encrypted computer servers they controlled in the United States and eastern Europe, the Justice Department said.

Some credit and debit card numbers were sold on the Internet, and were "cashed out" by encoding the numbers on the magnetic strips of blank cards. "The defendants then used these cards to withdraw tens of thousands of dollars at a time from ATMs," authorities said.

Gonzalez and the others used anonymous Internet-based currencies to conceal and launder their proceeds, as well as channeling funds through bank accounts in Eastern Europe, the department said.

"There are ties between all three districts and ties internationally that go all the way to the Ukraine and Latvia," Sullivan said. "The 41 million credit and debit numbers were used internationally."

Gonzalez was previously arrested in 2003 by the Secret Service on suspicion of access device fraud, the Department of Justice said, and was working as a confidential informant for the agency. However, the Secret Service discovered during the investigation that Gonzalez was involved in this case, authorities said.

The California indictment charged eight others with operating an international stolen credit and debit card distribution ring, selling stolen card information for personal gain -- millions of dollars, in at least one case, authorities said.

Three of the defendants in the most recent case, among them Gonzalez, were also charged in May in a related indictment in New York, Justice said. Those charges allege the three were engaged in a scheme to hack into computer networks run by the Dave & Buster's restaurant chain and steal credit and debit card numbers from at least 11 locations.

The three installed "sniffer" programs at the cash register terminals of the locations, capturing credit and debit card numbers, authorities said. At one location, the sniffer captured data for some 5,000 cards, causing some $600,000 in losses to the banks that issued the credit and debit cards.

Gonzalez is awaiting trial on the New York charges. The other two of the international defendants are also in custody, police said.

"Identity theft can involve a single criminal stealing the personal financial information of a single victim or, as it did here, it can involve a group of criminals stealing the credit card numbers of millions of people, many of whom may not even learn that they were victims for months or years," said Attorney General Michael Mukasey.

"Identity theft victims suffer well beyond the immediate financial costs; they suffer lost confidence in their privacy and security, as well as the emotional strain and the time it can take to repair damaged financial lives and credit histories. In many cases, the effects of these crimes can be felt for years after they are committed."

Mukasey and other officials said the case serves as a reminder that computer crimes can cross international borders.

"We have been working with countries around the world to identify and address technical vulnerabilities in computer networks, and to ensure that laws and procedures are adequate to deal with these kinds of crime," Mukasey said. "And we have been working closely with our international partners to crack specific cases when they take us beyond our borders

BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ARE STOLEN FROM MEDICARE AND ULTIMATELY FROM U.S. TAXPAYERS BUT THEY ARE NOT UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS !!!!!!!






TWO MEN SENTENCED IN MILLIONAIRE MEDICARE FRAUD SCHEME. WHRN THE ANTI IMMIGRANTS WILL START TO ACTING MORE RATIONAL AND USED A COMMON SENSE RATHER THAN BEING BIGOTRY, IGNORANCE AND LACK OF KNOWLEDGE.


R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, announced today that on April 2, 2008 the Honorable Adalberto Jordan sentenced defendant Michael Labrada, 27, of Miami to a 97 month prison term and Miguel Castillo, 42, of Miami, to a 57 month prison term for their participation in a multi-million dollar health care fraud and money laundering scheme.

Labrada was sentenced in connection with two criminal cases. In the first case, Labrada was convicted of conspiring with Angel Castillo, Jr. to commit health care fraud by serving as a straw owner of a medical equipment company known as JJ & D Medical Equipment, Inc. The company submitted more than $6.8 million dollars in bogus claims and received approximately $1.6 million in payments. In the second case, Labrada was convicted of money laundering charges in connection with a $2.3 million laundering scheme orchestrated by his co-defendant, Angel Castillo, Jr.

Miguel Castillo was also convicted of related health care fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges. In addition to serving as a straw owner of a medical equipment company, Miguel Castillo collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraud proceeds from check cashers at the direction of his cousin and co-conspirator, Angel Castillo, Jr.

Last month, Angel Castillo, Jr. was sentenced to a 235 month term in connection with his ownership of more than eight durable medical equipment companies in Miami during 2005 and 2006. The companies collectively submitted in excess of $48,000,000 in false claims by way of two Miami based medical billing companies. In reality, the companies never provided any Medicare patients with any type of equipment or service. Angel Castillo Jr. used a series of straw owners to conduct banking transactions and conceal his ownership of the companies.

After receiving more than $7,000,000 from the Medicare program, Angel Castillo, Jr. then laundered the proceeds of the scheme by using friends, family and other associates, including various bank employees, to cash hundreds of checks. In some cases, Castillo’s associates needed duffel bags to carry the cash out of local banks.

Co-conspirators, Giovanni Guerrero, Javier Roberto More, Angel Hernandez, Juan A. Zaragoza have all pled guilty to related health care fraud and money laundering offenses in the past months. The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney William J. Parente Jr. of the Federal Bureau of Investigation

THREE INDICTED FOR FILING FALSE TAX RETURNS USING NAMES AND SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS OF PRISONERS. GUESS WHAT. NONE OF THEM WERE UNDOCUMENTED.


Baltimore, Maryland - A federal grand jury has indicted Giacumo Marzano, age 66, of Baltimore; Karen Woodard, age 42, of Suitland, Maryland; and Melanie Taylor, age 34, of La Plata, Maryland, on fraud and identity theft charges in connection with a scheme to file false income tax returns using the names and social security numbers of inmates from the Maryland Department of Corrections and other prisons, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. The indictment was returned on March 25, 2008.

According to the 10 count indictment, from 2004 to 2007, Marzano supplied inmates of the Maryland Division of Correction with income tax forms. Marzano coordinated with Woodard and Taylor to mail, receive and cash the inmate's tax refunds. Marzano and Taylor opened bank accounts for inmates to facilitate cashing the tax refund checks. Marzano also opened a post office box which received money orders from the proceeds of the fictitious tax refunds. After taking part of the refunds for themselves, Woodard and Taylor sent the remainder of the refunds to Marzano, the inmates and others. To hide the scheme and their true identities, the defendants often used fake names.

According to the indictment, the scheme involved over 101 fictitious inmate tax returns with claims totaling $365,599.41.

Each of the defendants faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States and 20 years in prison for mail fraud. Marzano also faces a maximum of 15 years in prison for producing false identification documents, and a mandatory two years in prison for aggravated identity theft, consecutive to any other sentence imposed. The defendants are scheduled to have their initial appearances in federal district court at 3:00 p.m. today.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein commended Assistant United States Attorney Kwame J. Manley, who is prosecuting the case