#aggravated identity

[investmart007]

North Carolina News: Former Raleigh Resident, DEBORAH ROSE MCFADDEN Sentenced to Eight Years for Conspiracy and Aggravated Identity Theft in Connection with Credit Card and Auto Loan Fraud Schemes

New Post has been published on https://www.stl.news/north-carolina-news-former-raleigh-resident-deborah-rose-mcfadden-sentenced-to-eight-years-for-conspiracy-and-aggravated-identity-theft-in-connection-with-credit-card-and-auto-loan-fraud-schemes/169378/

North Carolina News: Former Raleigh Resident, DEBORAH ROSE MCFADDEN Sentenced to Eight Years for Conspiracy and Aggravated Identity Theft in Connection with Credit Card and Auto Loan Fraud Schemes

RALEIGH, N.C. – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announces that in Federal court in Greenville, Senior United States District Judge Malcolm J. Howard sentenced DEBORAH ROSE MCFADDEN, formerly of Raleigh, North Carolina, to 96 months imprisonment for her role in a complex fraud scheme to steal, exploit, and profit from the personal and financial information of victims in North Carolina and other states.

The Court ordered the term of imprisonment to be followed by 5 years of supervised release. Among other terms of the judgment, MCFADDEN was also ordered to pay restitution to over a dozen financial institutions that suffered losses as a result of the scheme.

MCFADDEN was named in a 13-count Indictment filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina on June 17, 2017. On February 5, 2018, MCFADDEN pled guilty to the charged offenses of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and aggravated identity theft.

Laila Merchant and Malayna McFadden (MCFADDEN’s daughter), were two of MCFADDEN’s principal co-conspirators. Malayna McFadden pleaded guilty to a Criminal Information on July 14, 2017. On March 7, 2018, United States District Judge Malcolm J. Howard sentenced Malayna McFadden to 6 months imprisonment, among other terms of the judgment. Laila Merchant pleaded guilty to a Criminal Information on April 17, 2018. On May 3, 2018, United States District Judge Malcolm J. Howard sentenced Merchant to 42 months imprisonment, among other terms of the judgment.

According to the charging instruments, statements made in court, and other public information, between at least May 2013 and September 2014, MCFADDEN, Malayna McFadden, and Laila Merchant engaged in a complex, multistate scheme to commit credit card fraud and loan fraud through the use of stolen victim identifiers, including dates of birth and Social Security numbers.

As part of the credit card fraud scheme, the stolen identifiers were used to form sham companies and apply for merchant accounts with various credit card processors. Upon establishment of the merchant accounts, MCFADDEN and her co-conspirators unlawfully obtained credit card numbers of other victims and ran the stolen numbers through the electronic point-of-sale systems issued to the sham companies. The fraud proceeds were then laundered through dozens of bank accounts maintained and/or controlled by MCFADDEN.

As part of the bank fraud scheme, MCFADDEN and her co-conspirators submitted fraudulent auto loan applications to multiple financial institutions using stolen victim identifiers. False and fraudulent documentation was used to deceive the targeted financial institutions and trigger the release of funds, including stolen VIN numbers, phony title documents and sales contracts from sham car dealerships, and counterfeit identification with victim identifiers.

Investigation of this case was conducted by the Department of Homeland Security – Homeland Security Investigations and the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Adam F. Hulbig prosecuted the case for the government.

—–

SOURCE: news provided by JUSTICE.GOV on Wednesday, September 12, 2018.

[investmart007]

South Carolina News: Mount Pleasant Speech Therapist, Gena Randolph Convicted of Health Care Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft

New Post has been published on https://is.gd/QLVvrk

South Carolina News: Mount Pleasant Speech Therapist, Gena Randolph Convicted of Health Care Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft

Charleston, South Carolina – Following a four-day trial before U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel, a federal jury convicted Gena Randolph, 44, of Mount Pleasant, of committing a $2 million health care fraud scheme, announced United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon.

Randolph was convicted of one count of Health Care Fraud, one count of Aggravated Identity Theft, and four counts of Making False Statements Relating to Health Care Matters. Randolph could be sentenced up to 10 years in federal prison on the Health Care Fraud count and up to five years on the False Statement counts, which will be in addition to a mandatory sentence of two years for the count of Aggravated Identity Fraud.

According to evidence presented at trial, Randolph was excluded from Medicaid and Medicare after her 2012 conviction for Filing False Claims with the South Carolina Medicaid Program. As an excluded person, she was prohibited from working for any provider to perform services paid for, in whole or in part, by Medicare and Medicaid.

Over the course of the trial, the Government presented evidence showing that Randolph disguised her ownership and control over Palmetto Speech and Language Associates and Per Diem Healthcare Services, both of which were submitting claims to Medicare and Medicaid.

As part of the health care fraud scheme, Randolph submitted claims both for speech therapy services that either were provided by other speech therapists and for services that were never rendered at all.  In addition to hearing from the speech therapists in whose names Randolph submitted fraudulent claims, the jury was presented with evidence showing that Randolph submitted claims for services to beneficiaries who were dead.

U.S. Attorney Lydon stated, “This case is a great example of the coordinated efforts of the South Carolina Attorney General’s office and the U.S. Attorney’s office to combat health care fraud. Cases like this send the message to all health care providers that we are committed to stamping out fraud in our state.”

“It is reprehensible that one would steal from federal health care programs intended to serve our country’s most vulnerable population,” said Derrick Jackson, Special Agent in Charge for the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.  “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to bring these criminals to justice.”

The case was investigated by Special Investigator Chris Radcliff of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the South Carolina Attorney General’s office and Special Agent Chris Lott with the United States Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General.  The case was prosecuted by Nancy Cote, Senior Assistant Deputy Attorney General and Director of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and Assistant United States Attorney Matt Austin of the Charleston office.

—-

SOURCE: news provided by JUSTICE.GOV on Wednesday, August 1, 2018.