DALLAS – A trio of schemers have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a complex fraud conspiracy that flooded North Texas retail stores with counterfeit bank cards. The operation, uncovered after a spike in fraudulent transactions at Walmart locations, involved the systematic theft of credit and debit card information and the creation of fake cards to purchase prepaid gift cards – a classic money laundering tactic.
Elvis Johanny Ortiz Reyes, 34, of Nicaragua, received the lightest sentence of the three: 35 months in federal prison. Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater also ordered Reyes to pay $408,596.46 in restitution, jointly and severally with his co-defendants. Reyes pleaded guilty in June 2017 to one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud. The feds say the scheme ran from at least August 2014 through July 2016.
Yaser Moreno, also known as “Adrian Perez,” 27, from Cuba, took the hardest hit, sentenced to 57 months behind bars. He, too, was slapped with a $408,596.46 restitution order. Moreno’s guilty plea on one count of conspiracy to commit access device fraud came in April 2017. The length of his sentence suggests authorities believed he played a significant role in orchestrating the fraud.
Norge Mayea, 45, also hailing from Cuba, was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $44,497.70 in restitution. Mayea pleaded guilty in July 2017 to the same charge as his accomplices: conspiracy to commit access device fraud. While his restitution amount is smaller, it doesn’t diminish his involvement in the broader scheme.
The operation wasn’t some fly-by-night hustle. A federal grand jury indictment in August 2016 named Reyes, Moreno, and Mayea, along with Jesus Aldana Gutierrez, Roberto Carlos Puebla Saavedra, Ivania Ortiz (also known as “Ivania Reyes” and “Lisset Oz”), and Yokasta Garcia (also known as “Kathy Garcia”). Authorities say the crew obtained stolen card data online, then used encoding devices to create functional counterfeit cards. They hit retail stores, buying prepaid and shopping cards, then used *those* cards to buy more gift cards – a layered approach to disguise the illicit funds. The whole thing began to unravel when a JPMorgan Chase investigator noticed a surge in fraudulent debit card transactions at Walmart stores across the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
JPMorgan Chase’s investigator teamed up with Walmart loss prevention, gathering surveillance footage and directly observing the defendants in action. The U.S. Secret Service and the Plano Police Department spearheaded the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jamie L. Hoxie and Shane Read secured the convictions. While these three are behind bars, the indictment suggests further prosecutions may be on the horizon for the remaining individuals named in the case. This case serves as a stark reminder that even seemingly small-scale fraud can quickly escalate into a large-scale criminal enterprise, and federal agencies are actively working to dismantle these rings.
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Key Facts
- Agency: U.S. Secret Service
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Press Release
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