12 charged in nationwide cellphone fraud scheme which caused million dollar losses

NEW YORK — Twelve charged in New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania Thursday after a fraud investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in New York’s El Dorado Task Force (EDTF). This investigation, worked by HSI special agents and taskforce members from the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, revealed twelve individuals involved in a nationwide fraud conspiracy from 2014 to the present: Isaac Concepcion Aquino, a/k/a “Kaka,” Mario Diaz, a/k/a “Memin,” Tomas Guillen, a/k/a “Diddy,” Ronnie De Leon, Jose Argelis Diaz, Joel Pena, Jhonatan Diaz, a/k/a “Nino,” Eddy Morrobel, Ruddy Sanchez, Michael Roque, Rayniel Robles, and Joandra Tejada Gonzalez. In connection with the fraud, the defendants and their associates improperly accessed more than 3,300 customers’ cellphone accounts, fraudulently obtained more than 1,200 cellphones, and caused losses exceeding $1 million.

“Those arrested today were allegedly part of a fraud network operating in New York, the Dominican Republic and the Darknet. Their activities left a trail of unsuspecting victims across the United States and cost businesses significant losses. They traveled to 30 states to obtain cellphones that were later sold through fencing operations in the Bronx,” said Angel M. Melendez, special agent in charge of HSI New York. “Telecommunications fraud is a huge business and where there is a profit to be made by criminals, HSI’s longstanding El Dorado Task Force will follow the money to bring those perpetrators to justice.”

“The defendants allegedly engaged in a sophisticated nationwide conspiracy to hack into the accounts of ordinary people and exploit those accounts for their own gain, obtaining valuable electronic devices at others’ expense. The defendants allegedly perpetrated their scheme through various means, including buying victims’ account information over the dark web. Thanks to the dedicated work of our partners at HSI, this alleged ring of cellphone fraudsters will now face the call of justice,” said U. S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Geoffrey S. Berman.

More