Two men have been indicted in Newark Federal Court on charges of using fraudulently obtained credit cards to finance more than $350,000 for their shopping sprees. Richard Adebayo a 38 year old man from East Orange and Amos Peter Agbajaife a 37 year old man from Newark are each charged with 8 counts of wire fraud and 1 count each of identity theft and conspiracy to commit fraud. United States Attorney Paul Fishman said. They started the crime spree in March 2014 and were able to have replacement cards mailed to an address in Newark, after obtaining birth dates, social security numbers and other names. Before police were able to stop the fraudulent activity, more than 70 different credit card holders were defrauded. Wire fraud is an extremely serious offense and the two can be looking at spending up to 30 years in prison and $1 million for fines.
Under N.J.S.A. 2C:21-6h which is fraudulent use of a credit card. It involves knowingly using any counterfeit, stolen, lost, or fake credit card to obtain money, services, and goods. It is a crime of the 3rd degree. A person found guilty of a crime of the 3rd degree is looking at 3 to 5 years in New Jersey State Prison.
Under N.J.S.A. 2C:21-17 which is identity theft. It is the act of pretending to be someone else and assuming their identity to benefit themselves and defraud the individual they stole from. It involves writing checks, buying goods and services under their name etc. It is a graded crime depending on the amount of money involved. In this case it is a crime of the 2nd degree since there was more than $75,000 involved. A person found guilty of a crime of the 2nd degree is looking 5 to 10 years in New Jersey State Prison.
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