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Million-Dollar Credit Card Fraud Scheme Unraveled in Virginia
Alexandria, Va. – In a stunning revelation, Adiam Berhane, a 50-year-old Washington D.C. resident, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for her role in a million-dollar credit card fraud scheme involving an Arlington coffee shop.
According to court documents, Berhane conspired with Tiffany Younger, 51, and Keith Lemons, 56, to carry out the fraud scheme, which involved stolen credit card information used to purchase gift cards, expensive luxury goods, and other items from local retail stores.
The scheme, which lasted from May 2016 to October 2016, caused over hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses to area retailers and financial institutions. Berhane would obtain stolen identities of residents of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and elsewhere for the creation of fraudulent credit cards.
Younger and Lemons were recruited by Berhane to make purchases using fraudulent credit cards. As part of the scheme, items purchased with victims’ credit card information would sometimes be returned for refunds to bank accounts that Berhane controlled. In addition to fraudulently purchasing items and receiving fraudulent refund proceeds to her bank accounts, Berhane used fraudulent payment cards to purchase gift cards at retail stores which were then redeemed at her business, Caffe Aficionado, in Arlington.
Further investigation revealed that more than a third of Caffe Aficionado’s income from June 2013 to July 2016 came from a pattern of highly unusual redemptions of American Express gift cards, with the pattern beginning several months before Caffe Aficionado opened in approximately October 2013.
The scheme was brought to an end after a December 2022 jury trial, where Berhane was convicted of multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, trafficking in unauthorized access devices, aggravated identity theft, unlawful possession of 15 or more access devices, and possession of access device-making equipment with intent to defraud.
Lemons was sentenced to time served and six months of home confinement for his role in the scheme, while Younger received 2 years of probation. The case was prosecuted with the assistance of the Montgomery County Police Department, the FBI Cyber Task Force, the U.S. Postal Office of the Inspector General, the U.S. Secret Service, and the U.S. Capitol Police.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bibeane Metsch and Jonathan S. Keim prosecuted the case, with Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, announcing the sentencing.
Key Facts
- State: Virginia
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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