Hani Kabbara, a 32-year-old Canadian national, pleaded guilty to a long-running cyber fraud scheme that targeted elderly victims in the United States. Kabbara, also known as ‘The Mayor,’ ran a sophisticated scheme that used overseas call centers to extort money from unsuspecting victims between February 2014 and August 2016.
The scheme involved Kabbara and his co-conspirators using various threats and deceit to convince victims that a grandchild had been arrested and needed to be bailed out. They would demand payment in the form of MoneyPaks, vouchers that can be loaded with cash and used to fund prepaid debit cards.
Kabbara and his co-conspirators would then sell the MoneyPaks in online criminal forums or transfer the funds onto prepaid debit cards using stolen identities. They would use a crew of workers in and around the New York area to withdraw funds from the debit cards, consolidate the cash, and send it back to Kabbara in Canada.
Kabbara’s guilty plea was announced by Bridget M. Rohde, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office.
‘In this 21st century version of an age-old scam, Kabbara conned unwitting victims, many of them elderly, into sending hundreds of thousands of dollars to himself and his co-conspirators,’ stated Acting United States Attorney Rohde.
Kabbara faces up to 20 years in prison, as well as criminal forfeiture and fines, when he is sentenced by United States District Judge Margo K. Brodie on July 6, 2017.
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Category: Cybercrime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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