Two North Pole Men Sentenced for Orchestrating Identity Theft Conspiracy
Anchorage, Alaska – Two North Pole men, Andrew Mac Saunders and Ian David Bowman, were sentenced to federal prison for orchestrating a sophisticated identity theft, fraud, and mail theft conspiracy involving numerous victims and thousands of dollars in fraudulent purchases in Fairbanks and North Pole, Alaska.
According to court documents, on January 19, 2018, the Alaska State Troopers (AST) responded to a report that Saunders and Bowman were perpetrating a scheme to manufacture and use counterfeit identification documents and counterfeit checks. A search warrant was executed on their shared residence in North Pole, where AST seized computers, hard drives, and printers that revealed the extent of the criminal scheme.
The investigation revealed that Saunders and Bowman would steal mail from the mailboxes of victims who reside in Fairbanks and North Pole. They would then use that mail to create false driver’s licenses using specialized computer programs and printing equipment procured by Bowman, inserting his own and his co-conspirators’ photos along with the true name, address, and driver’s license number of victims.
Saunders and Bowman would then create counterfeit checks printed in the victims’ names, open lines of credit at various retailers, and open accounts at stores like Verizon and AT&T to purchase high-value merchandise, often presenting the false driver’s licenses to complete the transactions. Saunders, Bowman and their co-conspirators sold this merchandise for cash, which they then used to purchase illegal narcotics.
On March 2019, Saunders and Bowman both pleaded guilty to federal identity theft charges. Saunders and Bowman also agreed to pay $29,418 in restitution to the victims in this case, plus other yearly payments to compensate victims for costs associated with identity theft protection. The Court set a final restitution hearing for August 16, 2019.
Andrew Mac Saunders, 43, was sentenced to serve 40 months in federal prison, while Ian David Bowman, 30, was sentenced to serve 52 months in federal prison.
Key Facts
- State: Alaska
- Category: Cybercrime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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