Babar Qureshi, Credit Card Scam, New Jersey 2016

A man from New Jersey has been sentenced to prison for his involvement in a massive credit card scam that netted over $200 million in fraudulent charges.

Babar Qureshi, 63, of Iselin, New Jersey, was sentenced to 46 months in prison for his role in the scam, which was one of the largest credit card fraud schemes ever charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Qureshi pleaded guilty to Count One of an indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit bank fraud. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson in Trenton federal court on February 2013.

According to documents filed in the case, Qureshi was part of a conspiracy to fabricate more than 7,000 false identities to obtain tens of thousands of credit cards. The scheme involved a three-step process in which the defendants would make up a false identity, pump up the credit of the false identity, and run up large loans.

The scope of the criminal fraud enterprise required Qureshi and other conspirators to construct an elaborate network of false identities. Across the country, the conspirators maintained more than 1,800 'drop addresses,' which they used as the mailing addresses of the false identities.

Qureshi's role in the conspiracy was to take the phony cards and charge large amounts at complicit merchants, who would then pay him a portion of the charge. He used phony bank accounts to conceal his involvement and receive proceeds from the fraud, which he used for personal expenses, including his mortgage.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Thompson sentenced Qureshi to five years of supervised release. U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman credited the FBI's Cyber Division, postal inspectors, the U.S. Secret Service, and the U.S. Social Security Administration for their roles in the investigation.

The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Shapiro and Deputy Chief Zach Intrater of the U.S. Attorney's Office's Economic Crimes Unit, and Sarah Devlin of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Unit. Defense counsel was Alexander Spiro Esq. of New York.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/middlesex-county-new-jersey-man-gets-over-three-years-jail-particpating-international-200