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Las Vegas Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing Millions from Bank Accounts
A Canadian man has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to steal millions of dollars from thousands of victims in the United States.
Poupak Jannissar, 52, of Quebec, Canada, operated and controlled sham companies that used fake checks and other fraudulent debits to steal from victims’ accounts at banks in the United States.
The defendant and his co-conspirators used various names for the sham companies, including Computer Run, EBooks, Joreeb, Memo Storage, Our Online Backup, You Can Fax Too and Your E-Library.
These companies pretended to sell various internet-based services for consumers, such as cloud storage, internet faxing and online books, but did not actually provide any real products or services.
Instead, the sham companies served to conceal the theft of money from bank accounts by Jannissar and his co-conspirators.
Jannissar and his co-conspirators bought lists containing misappropriated personal information belonging to thousands of potential victims.
Jannissar and his co-conspirators then falsely represented to banks and others that individual victims had authorized debits from their bank accounts.
If the individual victims did not notice and dispute initial charges made by the sham companies, the sham companies would fraudulently debit bank accounts multiple times.
Jannissar and his co-conspirators transferred money they stole to accounts in Canada.
Jannissar pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of money laundering in front of U.S. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.
“Through various sham entities, the defendant and his accomplices stole consumers’ hard-earned money directly from their bank accounts,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton.
“The Justice Department will use all of the tools at its disposal to apprehend and prosecute criminals, whether located inside or outside the United States, who steal from Americans.”
“Today’s guilty plea demonstrates our commitment to finding and prosecuting individuals who steal from consumers,” said U.S. Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada.
“Defrauding consumers and stealing their hard-earned dollars is a crime against the individuals but it also violates the trust we have in free commerce. With our law enforcement partners, we are committed to holding accountable those who violate federal law.”
“Mr. Jannisar and his co-conspirators used sham companies to steal from unknowing victims by accessing their bank accounts using personal identifiable information from illegally obtained lists, and sadly nothing more than a keystroke on a computer,” said Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of U.S. Postal Inspection Service Criminal Investigations.
“His actions and those of his co-conspirators represent a crime of greed and opportunity but will not go unpunished thanks to the law enforcement community, who have dedicated their mission to uncovering and putting an end to devious schemes like these.”
The FDIC OIG continues to work with its law enforcement partners to uncover and investigate similar schemes that target American consumers.
Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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