Wednesday, August 10, 2005

QUEENS MAN SENTENCED TO UP TO FOUR YEARS IN PRISON AND FORFEITS $171,000 IN COMPLEX SCHEME INVOLVING IDENTITY THEFT AND CREDIT CARD FRAUD AT AQUEDUCT AND OTHER RACE TRACKS

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown today announced that a federal fugitive -- sought for over five years by federal authorities for credit card fraud in New Jersey before he was apprehended on the charges in Queens -- has been sentenced to up to four years in prison and also ordered to forfeit $171,000 in a complicated scheme involving identity theft and credit card fraud at Aqueduct and other race tracks.

District Attorney Brown said, "The defendant has admitted that he ripped off numerous credit card companies for tens of thousands of dollars in a complicated identity theft and credit card fraud scheme in which he laundered over $171,000. The defendant has now been held accountable and punished for his actions."

District Attorney Brown identified the defendant as Ervin Caspi, 49, formerly residing at Extended StayAmerica, a residential suite hotel, at 18-30 Whitestone Expressway in Whitestone, Queens, a naturalized citizen who said that he was born in Romania and that he has no occupation. The defendant pled guilty on July 27, 2005 to Money Laundering in the Third Degree before Queens Acting Supreme Court Justice Pauline A. Mullings and earlier today Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice Robert M. Raciti imposed a sentence of one and one-third to four years in prison and ordered the defendant to forfeit $171,269, the total amount of the losses related to these criminal charges.

District Attorney Brown said that the defendant admitted that between September 1, 2004 and March 2, 2005 he laundered over $171,000 in cash through several New York Racing Association wagering accounts that he had fraudulently opened, made periodic cash withdrawals from the accounts and retained the proceeds.

According to the District Attorney, the defendant was apprehended on March 2, 2005 at Aqueduct Race Track. Investigators recovered from his clothing over $171,000 in cash, a counterfeit $100 bill, three NYRA Account Access Cards, an NYRA voucher for $180 and various other documents belonging to identity theft victim Albert Burch, 54, of West Amherst, New York including Burch's New York State Driver's License, health care card, Erie County, New York Board of Elections card and AAA card. Also recovered were several handwritten pages containing over 80 credit card account numbers and 25 names and Social Security numbers of individuals other than the defendant. At the time of his apprehension, the United States Marshals Service website contained a wanted poster with the defendant's photograph that stated that he was wanted for failing to appear in U.S. District Court in Trenton, New Jersey on charges of credit card fraud.

New York Racing Association and HSBC Credit Services investigators uncovered the scheme last February and conducted a joint investigation with the District Attorney's New York State Police Unit and his Economic Crimes Bureau along with the United States Postal Inspection Service, New York Division that led to the filing of the charges.

District Attorney Brown said that NYRA wagering accounts can be opened and used to place wagers by telephone or by using NYRA One account access cards at self-service and staffed electronic terminals at NYRA race tracks, including Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga. The accounts can be opened by telephone, mail, the internet or in person by individuals who provide personal identification information including a valid Social Security number. An account holder can withdraw monies from an account by printing a voucher from a terminal and cashing it with a teller.

The case was investigated by NYRA Inspector Sidney J. Anthony Jr. and Household Credit Services Investigator John Crowe; Investigators David Douglas and Alan Brown of the District Attorney's New York State Police Unit under the supervision of Senior Investigator Joel Downing and New York State Police Troop NYC Major Mark J. Smith and Postal Service Inspectors Brian Masmela and Glen McKechnie under the supervision of Team Leader Alex Malaiko under the overall supervision of Assistant Inspector in Charge Randy Miskanic and Inspector in Charge NY Division Ron Walker.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Diane M. Peress, Deputy Chief, and Jason P. Garelick and Phylesia A. Lang, Investigative Auditor, of the District Attorney's Economic Crimes Bureau under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Gregory C. Pavlides, Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Peter A. Crusco and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Linda M. Cantoni.