Habib Chaudhry Nabbed in $200M Credit Card Fraud Scheme

NEWARK, N.J. — A $200 million credit card fraud scheme unraveled further this week with the arrest of Habib Chaudhry, 49, of Valley Stream, New York, a fugitive since 2013. Chaudhry was taken into federal custody and is set to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Leda Dunn Wettre in Newark. The arrest marks a major breakthrough in one of the largest identity-based financial fraud cases ever prosecuted by the Justice Department.

Chaudhry was initially charged by criminal complaint in February 2013 and later indicted in September of that year as part of a sprawling conspiracy led by Tahir Lodhi, Babar Qureshi, Ijaz Butt, and others. The scheme relied on the creation of over 7,000 fake identities, each equipped with forged identification documents and fabricated credit profiles. Using these phony personas, the conspirators obtained tens of thousands of credit cards, maxed them out, and vanished without repayment.

The fraud ring operated with military precision, employing a three-phase method: inventing identities, inflating their creditworthiness with false data, then exploiting the resulting credit lines across the country. The conspirators maintained more than 1,800 ‘drop addresses’ — including rented apartments, houses, and post office boxes — to receive card shipments and launder the fraud. Financial institutions and businesses absorbed over $200 million in confirmed losses.

To date, 19 individuals connected to the scheme have pleaded guilty. Chaudhry, however, evaded capture for nearly four years, living off the grid while federal agents from the FBI’s Cyber Division pursued leads nationwide. The investigation was helmed by Special Agent in Charge Timothy Gallagher, with critical support from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Social Security Administration.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zach Intrater and Daniel Shapiro of the Economic Crimes Unit, along with Barbara Ward, Acting Chief of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Unit. U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman emphasized the coordinated nature of the takedown, calling it a victory for financial integrity and consumer protection.

This investigation was conducted under the umbrella of President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, a coalition of over 20 federal agencies and 94 U.S. Attorneys’ offices. Since its inception, the task force has prosecuted nearly 10,000 financial fraud cases, including more than 2,900 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information, visit www.stopfraud.gov.