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Ramon Batista, Cellphone Fraud, Florida 2024
In a major blow to international cellphone fraud, the owner and operator of a Florida-based telecommunications company, Ramon Batista, 50, has been sentenced to 75 months in prison for his role in a sophisticated global cellphone fraud scheme. His co-conspirator, Farintong Calderon, 38, a resident of Bronx, New York, was sentenced to 36 months in prison.
According to the plea agreements, Batista and Calderon, along with their co-conspirators, participated in a scheme to steal access to and fraudulently open new cellphone accounts using the personal information of individuals around the United States. The scheme involved operating ‘call sites’ in South Florida and elsewhere, where they would receive telecommunications identifying information associated with customers’ accounts from Calderon and additional co-conspirators, and use that data, as well as other software and hardware, to reprogram cellphones that they controlled.
Batista admitted that his role in the scheme included selling fraudulent telecommunications services through Arymyx, acting as a ‘call site operator’, which involved maintaining and re-programming cellphones through which he routed phone calls as part of the fraud scheme, and using and providing other co-conspirators with stolen or compromised telecommunications identifying information that was then employed to reprogram cellphones.
The scheme caused almost $800,000 in losses to Sprint and Verizon, with Batista sending or receiving 1,132 ‘lines’, that is, combinations of telecommunications identifying numbers for specific devices or accounts associated with U.S. cellphone customers. Calderon, who acted as a ‘line supplier’ based in New York City, provided stolen or compromised telecommunications identifying information to Batista and other co-conspirators in Florida and elsewhere, causing more than $250,000 in losses.
The FBI investigated the case, dubbed Operation Toll Free, as part of their ongoing effort to combat large-scale telecommunications fraud. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared M. Strauss of the Southern District of Florida and Senior Counsel Matthew A. Lamberti of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section prosecuted the case.
This is the third and fourth defendants to be sentenced in the case by Senior Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley. Edwin Fana was sentenced on Dec. 22, 2016, to 48 months in prison, while Jose Santana was sentenced on Jan. 4, 2017, to 52 months in prison.
The case serves as a reminder of the importance of addressing large-scale telecommunications fraud and the need for continued vigilance in combating these types of crimes.
Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: Cybercrime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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