Marc Lazarre, Identity Theft, New Jersey 2021

A Hudson County man was arrested for a massive identity theft scheme that netted him over $1 million, authorities announced.

Marc Lazarre, 37, of Secaucus, New Jersey, was taken into custody this morning and charged with one count of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

The scheme, which spanned from September 2021 through October 2022, involved Lazarre using unlawfully obtained bank account and personal identity information to open accounts in victims' names without their knowledge.

Lazarre caused the transfer of funds from the victims' actual financial accounts to the accounts he opened and then withdrew the funds. He also obtained checks made out to victims, used fraudulent identification documents to open accounts in names almost identical to the victims' names, and then cashed the unlawfully obtained checks.

The bank fraud count is punishable by a maximum of 30 years in prison, while the aggravated identity theft count carries an additional consecutive mandatory minimum term of two years in prison.

Lazarre is scheduled to appear today before U.S. Magistrate Judge André M. Espinosa in Newark federal court.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shawn Barnes and Matthew Belgiovine.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/hudson-county-man-arrested-identity-theft-scheme