5 arrested in identity theft scheme targeting disabled and elderly veterans

The Justice Department announced charges in a foreign-based conspiracy Wednesday in what it called the largest-ever identity theft scheme against military members and their families, with the alleged co-conspirators specifically targeting disabled and elderly veterans.

The DOJ said there were at least 3,300 victims of the fraudulent scheme, and that they weren’t done identifying victims in the case. The thefts and attempted thefts of personal information began in 2014 and continued through this summer, totaling in the millions of dollars.

“To our knowledge, this is the largest criminal case ever involving identify theft of military-affiliated personnel,” U.S. Attorney John Bash of Texas said in a press conference yesterday.

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