HEMPSTEAD, N.Y.–Five people have been charged with using records from a credit counseling service and hospitals as part of a huge fraud ring that attempted to steal more than $1 million from a number of credit unions.
One of the suspects is a former college football player who was given a tryout by the NFL’s New York Giants.
The arrests were announced by Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas and United States Postal Inspector in Charge Philip R. Bartlett. According to prosecutors, the five suspects spent more than a year targeting credit unions using stolen identities to then apply for fraudulent loans at the credit unions.
"Over the course of a year these defendants allegedly operated a highly sophisticated and organized loan and identity theft ring," Singas said in a statement. "The effects of this type of fraud are devastating for those who have to reclaim their identities and the banks that have to recoup financial losses. This investigation, one of the largest identity theft cases we have ever investigated, highlights the importance of strong working relationships among all levels of law enforcement. I thank our partners at the United States Postal Inspection Service for their assistance on this case."
How Ring Allegedly Worked
According to authorities, the alleged ringleader was Dacson Sears, 36, of Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, who from February 2018 to February 2019, filed for more than 100 loan applications at Nassau Educators FCU, Digital CU, Pentagon Federal Credit Union, Comtrust FCU and Navy Federal using the stolen identities of hundreds of individuals with good credit.
Singas said authorities have evidence showing hundreds of people were targeted by the ring that created profiles with their information, ran their credit reports and got more information about their victims from the dark web. Sears is the owner of Sears Credit Advisory Counselling LLC., which he operated from his apartment in Brooklyn. Police said the scammers also obtained information using school and hospital websites.
According to Singas, the bogus loans were in amounts ranging from $7,500 to $35,000 and were applied for electronically using the stolen personally identifiable information. The scam allegedly involved using a money order to open the loan, and once approved by the credit union, funds were deposited in accounts with the victims’ names. Prosecutors said Sears also opened credit cards in the victims' names.
Another of the alleged scammers, Summer Aboushady, 26, worked for Capital One and allegedly stole account information and sold it to the other members of the ring. While working at Capital One, she further allegedly opened accounts for Sears in the names of the stolen identities so he could have loans deposited into the accounts, authorities said.
The Defendants
Those charged include:
- Sears, 36, who was charged with two counts of second-degree grand larceny, three counts of first-degree identity theft and first-degree scheme to defraud. He faces seven-and-a-half to 15 years in prison if convicted of the top charge.
- Nyantakyi Boateng, 32, of Perth Amboy, N.J., who was charged with two counts of second-degree grand larceny, first-degree identity theft and first-degree scheme to defraud. He faces five to 15 years in prison if convicted of the top charge. Boateng played college football for both the University of California and the University of Florida, and was given a tryout by the New York Giants. While at the University of Florida, Boateng’s was charged with burglary residence, battery and criminal mischief after kicking in the door of an ex-girlfriend’s apartment.
- Konstantinos Toikas, 28, of Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, who was charged with third-degree grand larceny, first-degree identity theft and first-degree scheme to defraud. He faces 2 1/3 to seven years in prison if convicted of the top charge.
- Amber Mantock, 25, of Astoria, Queens, who was charged with third-degree grand larceny, first-degree identity theft and first-degree scheme to defraud. She faces 2 1/3 to seven years in prison if convicted of the top charge.
- Aboushady, of Jackson Heights, Queens, was charged with first-degree scheme to defraud, six counts of first-degree falsifying business records and third-degree unlawful possession of personal identification information. She faces 1 1/3 to four years in prison if convicted of the top charge.
Where Funds Allegedly Went
In his statement, Singas said Sears, Boateng, Mantock and Toikas all withdrew the money from ATMs and spent it on car loans, rent and airline tickets, and other items. Sears and Boateng also opened accounts with the assistance of Aboushady, Singas stated. Boateng and Toikas, who worked as a security guard and bouncer, also deposited loan proceed checks into bank accounts controlled by the ring, authorities are alleging.
In all, Singas said the group attempted to steal more than $1 million from the credit unions, successfully stealing $250,000 in the process, a figure authorities indicated may rise.
According to authorities, the alleged ring was discovered when some of the credit unions noticed some loans had become overdue, and further discovering some of the members who supposedly had taken out the loans had not done so and were unaware their identities were stolen. Prosecutors said it was NEFCU that reported the financial losses to the NCDA and USPIS.
Authorities said they seized a significant number of files containing victims' personal and financial information, credit reports, fake identification cards, a cash counting machine, cash wrappers, computers, phones and cash.