A Newark federal grand jury today indicted two Essex County men for their respective roles in a scheme that allegedly defrauded credit card companies of hundreds of thousands of dollars, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman announced.
Richard Adebayo, 38, of East Orange, and Amos Peter Agbajaife, 37, of Newark, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, eight counts of wire fraud, and one count of aggravated identity theft. They were originally charged by complaint on Sept. 16, 2014. Adebayo was arrested in 2014 and Agbajaife remains at large.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
From March 2014 to April 2014, Adebayo and Agbajaife fraudulently obtained personal identifying information, including dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and passwords, of credit card holders. They used the information to fraudulently obtain replacement credit cards in the victims’ names and then used the cards to purchase high-value items from retail stores.
Adebayo was carrying a laptop computer when he was arrested. A forensic analysis of the computer allegedly revealed the stolen identities, including names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, bank account information, and credit card information of at least 70 victims. Law enforcement confirmed that approximately $350,000 in fraudulent charges was incurred on the credit cards of the victims.
Each count of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud carries a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.
The count of aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory term of two years in prison, which must run consecutively to any term of imprisonment imposed for other counts of the indictment