HOUSTON, Texas – A brazen cell phone fraud scheme has come to an end for a 47-year-old Houston woman.
Renee Heyd, a former employee of a Houston-based seismic equipment company, was ordered to pay over $2 million in restitution following her conviction of mail fraud in a seven-year cell phone scheme.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Heyd pleaded guilty on November 28, 2016, to orchestrating the scheme, which involved using her employer’s AT&T account to obtain iPhones and other smartphones at discounted prices.
Heyd admitted to initiating two-year contracts on the company’s AT&T account for new or existing phone lines to obtain new iPhones and other smartphones at discounted prices. She then registered the phones with fictitious names and caused the new contracts to be suspended to reduce the monthly service fee from an active line to a suspended line.
Between February 2009 and October 15, 2015, Heyd sent 236 Federal Express shipments containing the fraudulently-obtained phones from Houston to a reseller in New York. The reseller paid Heyd $300 to $500 per phone via PayPal and/or wire transfers.
U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt handed Heyd a 27-month sentence, which will be followed by three years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay $2,630,522 in restitution.
The FBI conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Belinda Beek is prosecuting the case.
Heyd was previously released on bond but was permitted to voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility, which will be determined in the near future.
Related Federal Cases
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
ðŸâ€Â’ Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free →
MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS
US NewsUS NewsUS NewsUS News