Frank Hayden, Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, New Hampshire 2023

CONCORD, New Hampshire – A shocking indictment has been unsealed charging eight defendants in connection with an international scheme to bill $10 million in fraudulent market survey data, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Jay McCormack.

Each of the following defendants has been indicted on one count of Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud:

Frank Hayden, 57, of Evanston, Illinois.
Daniel Harriman, 38, of Huntsville, Alabama.
Frank Nappo, 55, of Rye, New Hampshire.
Ryan Stoudt, 38, of Dallas, Texas.
Katarina Grubljesic, 46, of Belgrade, Serbia.
Strahinja Grubljesic, 38, of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Archie Ignacio, 46, of Verona, New Jersey.
Arvind Iyer, a/k/a S. Aravindan, of Delhi, India.

According to the indictment, Op4G and Slice were market research companies based in the United States. Clients would hire the companies to conduct market research surveys. As part of their business model, Op4G and Slice maintained ‘panels’ consisting of individuals potentially eligible to take surveys.

In 2014, Hayden, Harriman, and Nappo, who were senior leaders at Op4G, decided to increase company revenues by generating fabricated survey data. To execute the scheme, some of the defendants recruited ‘ants’, who pretended to be legitimate survey takers but instead were paid a nominal fee for completing surveys that produced fraudulent market research data.

Companies that purchased survey data from Op4G or Slice between 2014-2024 are encouraged to contact the U.S. Attorney’s office at usanh.webmail@usdoj.gov with the subject line ‘Slice’.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Hayden, Harriman, Nappo, Stoudt, and Ignacio will appear in federal court at a later date.

The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, up to three (3) years of supervised release, and a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater.