7 Texans Accused of Involvement in Id Theft Scheme

ID Theft Scheme

A federal fraud case has recently arisen involving seven Texans.

The seven have been accused of having engaged in an identity theft scheme. According to authorities, the scheme went as follows. The personal information of customers of Fannie Mae, JPMorgan Chase and the Bank of America was stolen and used to access the customers’ bank accounts. Money was then taken from the accounts of the customers, funneled through other banks accounts and used by the participants in the scheme for things like renting hotel rooms and purchasing luxury goods.

Fraud cases can carry stiff federal penalties. The Federal Sentencing Guidelines take into account numbers of victims and dollar amounts among other things. These things can add up to a very lengthy prison sentence. Having a good attorney with experience handling federal fraud matters is imperative when it comes to navigating the case from its beginning to end.

Those Involved in ID Theft Scheme

According to authorities, the roles the seven Texans played in the scheme varied. Some were the scheme’s ringleaders and others played supporting roles, such as acting as runners. Runners are individuals tasked with bringing money from the funneling accounts to the ringleaders.

Federal charges have been brought against the seven Texans. Charges of aggravated identification fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy are among the charges they are facing.

As this case shows, in federal cases involving fraud schemes, prosecutors sometimes charge multiple people and bring conspiracy charges against the accused individuals. Conspiracy cases have many unique aspects. In most criminal cases, the question the case focuses on is: what actions did the defendant commit? In conspiracy cases, however, the answer to another question can also have impacts on the severity of the potential consequences a defendant could face. This question is: what actions did the defendant’s alleged co-conspirators commit? Thus, conspiracy cases often have some particular complexities associated with them and being represented by an attorney that understands these complexities can be very important for a conspiracy case defendant.

Source: The Star-Telegram, “Federal prosecutors charge 7 North Texans in ID theft conspiracy” Feb. 7, 2014