Fergie's Tech Blog

Internet Fraud Scheme, Guilty Plea

Via Technology News Daily.

On February 6, 2007, defendant Joseph John Vaquera, the third defendant in a $2 million scheme to defraud retail businesses throughout the United States, pled guilty to mail fraud charges. Co-defendants, Steven Michael May and Christopher William Cook pled guilty to mail fraud charges on Friday, February 2, 2007. May, Vaquera, and Cook are each facing a maximum statuary sentence of twenty (20) years' imprisonment. Defendants May and Cook are scheduled to be sentenced on April 13, 2007 at 1:30 pm, and Vaquera's sentencing is scheduled for April 18, 2007, at 1:30 pm, before U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth L. Ryskamp, in West Palm Beach.

According to the Indictment, the defendants established business lines of credit with more than thirty (30) businesses based on false and fraudulent financial information, and then used the fraudulently obtained lines of credit to obtain assorted high-end merchandise, which they subsequently sold on eBay.

In approximately 2003, the defendants began incorporating businesses located throughout the United States and leasing virtual office suites for these businesses. Each business had a virtual office in the state in which it was incorporated. The virtual office suites provided the defendants with addresses and telephone numbers so that it would appear as if the businesses were legitimate entities, when, in fact, they were not. Using e-mail and/or facsimiles, the defendants applied for business-to-business lines of credit with numerous retail companies throughout the United States. To date, the Government has identified 34 victim businesses.

posted by Fergie @ 2/10/2007 11:23:00 AM