The indicted individuals allegedly used the stolen information in a variety of schemes to defraud the victims who had their personal information stolen. The information included names, dates of birth, addresses, social security numbers, and financial account information.
The defendants are charged in five separate indictments, which accuse them of stealing the identities of more than 200 individuals and organizations – many of them who were repeatedly victimized – and stealing more than $2 million from a number of financial institutions, including JP Morgan Chase, TD Bank, Citbank, Discover, and American Express, between May 2010 and September 2011.
The indictment “reveals another tool of organized identity thieves – insiders who betray their employers and prey on clients. These insiders used their positions to gain access to client data, and then sold that data to make money for themselves and their accomplices. We will continue to work with our partners to build significant cases to disrupt identity theft and dismantle these criminal organizations”, said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.
The indictments and arrests are the culmination of an 18-month investigation, which used court-ordered eavesdropping, physical surveillance, computer forensics, and analysis of credit card, banking and phone records.