WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2005
DA BROWN: QUEENS TECH STUDENT
SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS IN PRISON FOR THIRD IDENTITY FRAUD WITHIN TWO YEARS
Stole Identities and Laundered over $10,000 through Internet Scheme
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today that a 20-year-old Richmond Hill resident who admitted to using the Internet to steal personal identification information and utilizing that information to make fraudulent purchases and cash withdrawals for his own personal benefit has been sentenced to two to four years in prison. It is the defendant’s third such conviction for ID theft in Queens County in two years.
District Attorney Brown said, “The defendant is a repeat identity thief who during his short criminal career has stolen a total of more than $75,000 in cash and merchandise and left in his wake over one hundred innocent victims across the country burdened with trying to undo the havoc he has caused to their lives and credit ratings. This online mugger will now learn the hard way – behind bars – that identity fraud is considered to be a very serious crime in Queens County.”
District Attorney Brown identified the defendant as Shiva Brent Sharma, 20, of 104-18 108th Street in Richmond Hill, Queens, a technical school student. The defendant pled guilty on September 14, 2005 to two counts of Identity Theft in the First Degree and Money Laundering in the Fourth Degree before Acting Queens Supreme Court Justice Dorothy Chin Brandt who imposed today’s prison sentence which also includes his violation of probation on his prior identity theft case. Justice Chin Brandt also ordered the defendant to forfeit merchandise and $2,300 in cash that was seized by detectives when a court-authorized search warrant was executed on his residence in October 2004. Among the items seized were computers, computer equipment, credit card receipts and various other business records, including financial profiles and credit reports of over 35 individuals from various locations across the country along with fake ids containing their names and the defendant’s photograph.
District Attorney Brown said that, as part of his guilty plea, the defendant admitted that, between January 1 and October 15, 2004, he fraudulently obtained the personal identity information and credit card numbers of various individuals which he illicitly used to make thousands of dollars in purchases from auto parts, computer, jewelry and other companies. The defendant also admitted to using the stolen credit card numbers to send money transfers to Western Union, which he obtained by using fake ids bearing the stolen identity information. In total, the defendant admitted that he obtained over $50,000 in money transfers and merchandise and resold more than $10,000 worth of the merchandise, and retaining the proceeds from the sales.
Two years earlier, on September 17, 2003, the defendant pled guilty to two counts of Identity Theft in the First Degree and Unlawful Possession of Personal Identification Information in the Second Degree in satisfaction of an indictment charging that he had fraudulently obtained the personal identity information of over 100 AOL subscribers and used the information to purchase thousands of dollars worth of electronic equipment and racing car parts. At the time of his plea, the defendant also admitted that he had taken over the debit card/checking and Amazon.com accounts of a Durham, North Carolina, couple and others and that he then used their identities and their bank and on-line accounts to place dozens of orders for electronic equipment which he received at his home and other locations. The defendant also admitted that he created at least two websites (a technique known as “spoofing”) in which he used the name “Amazon” in the web addresses and then used the websites to auction off the stolen property he had fraudulently obtained via his orders to online retailer Amazon.com.
On November 12, 2003 the defendant was sentenced to time served, five years’ probation and ordered to perform 350 hours of community service and to make full restitution in the amount of $5,000.
At the urging of District Attorney Brown and other law enforcement officials, New York State enacted in 2002 a tough law making identity theft a felony. The law provides stiff penalties of up to seven years in prison for the unlawful, unauthorized possession and use of personal identifying information, including names, addresses, driver’s license numbers, Social Security numbers, credit and debit card numbers, bank account numbers, computer passwords, mother’s maiden name and ATM codes. The District Attorney said the defendant’s first prosecution represented the first such indictment in New York State for identity fraud under the ID Theft law.
District Attorney Brown noted that the cases brought against the defendant were the result of a joint investigation by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the New York City Police Department and the District Attorney’s Economic Crimes Bureau.
The investigation was conducted by Inspectors Ana Bourdon and Glen McKechnie of the United States Postal Inspection Service under the supervision of Postal Inspector Alex Malaiko and the overall supervision of Assistant Inspector in Charge Thomas E. Boyle and Inspector in Charge, NY Division, Ronald C. Walker and Sergeant Christopher Kunz of the New York City Police Department’s Intelligence Division under the supervision of Captain Francis Darsillo, Criminal Intelligence Division; Police Officer Daniel Mallo of the 107th Precinct under the supervision of Captain Scott Olexa and the overall supervision of Deputy Inspector Charles Talamo.
Assistant District Attorney Diane M. Peress, Deputy Chief, of the District Attorney's Economic Crimes Bureau prosecuted the case assisted by Assistant District Attorney Jason Garelick and Investigative Auditor Phylesia Lang 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 Linda M. Cantoni.