A Grandville man has been sentenced to one year and one day in prison for his role in a wire fraud scheme that left three victims with significant financial losses.
Gary Alan Hoekstra, 37, of Grandville, Michigan, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Janet T. Neff on November 2015 for his role in opening at least ten credit card accounts in the name of three victims using their personal identifying information.
The scheme, which occurred between January 2010 and October 2012, involved Hoekstra using a computer in his home to enter the victims’ personal information into online credit applications. The accounts were approved with Credit One Bank, Discover Financial, Bank of America, Chase Bank, Citibank, and American Express, and Hoekstra ran up balances on each of these accounts to total $49,439.00.
The scheme was discovered when one of the victims began receiving unpaid balance calls from the banks. In addition to the one year and one day sentence of confinement, Judge Neff imposed a restitution order to compensate the victims for their losses, three years of supervised release to follow Mr. Hoekstra’s release from prison, and a special assessment of $100.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan was assisted in the investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Miles cautioned those who would use identity theft to defraud individuals and financial institutions. “Identity theft is a continuing challenge and a crime that worries almost everyone. I hope word gets out that perpetrators are being caught and sent to jail,” Miles said.
Related Federal Cases
- Kiara Nicole Hall, Wire Fraud, Michigan 2017 · Florida
- Kim Duron Mulder, Conspiracy to Commit Health Care Fraud, Michigan 2014 · Michigan
- Larry Darnell Frazier, Wire Fraud, Ohio 2023 · Michigan
- William Alan Schock, Child Pornography Production, Michigan 2015 · Michigan
- Jones Tyler Martin, Wire Fraud, North Carolina 2013 · North Carolina
Key Facts
- State: Michigan
- Category: Cybercrime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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