New York man of Indian origin sentenced in international $200 million credit card fraud

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An Indian-American man from New York was sentenced Sept. 10, to 24 months in prison for his role in one of the largest credit card fraud schemes ever charged by the Justice Department,

Raghbir Singh, 61, of Hicksville, New York, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Judge Arleo imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

Singh admitted he helped obtain credit cards in the name of third parties – many of which were fictional – then directed the credit cards to be mailed to addresses controlled by members of the conspiracy. He also admitted he knew the cards would be used fraudulently at businesses. In addition to the prison terms, Judge Arleo sentenced Singh to three years of supervised release and fined him $1,000.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Singh was originally charged in February 2013 as part of a conspiracy to fabricate more than 7,000 false identities to obtain tens of thousands of credit cards.

Members of the conspiracy doctored credit reports to pump up the spending and borrowing power associated with the cards. They then borrowed or spent as much as they could, based on the phony credit history, but did not repay the debts – causing more than $200 million in confirmed losses to businesses and financial institutions, according to a press release from the Justice Department.

Constructing an elaborate network of false identities across the country, the conspirators maintained more than 1,800 “drop addresses,” including houses, apartments and post office boxes, which they used as the mailing addresses of the false identities.