Vijay Verma, Credit Card Fraud, New Jersey 2014

TRENTON, N.J. – Vijay Verma, 46, of Iselin, N.J., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson in Trenton federal court to an information charging him with one count of access device fraud.

Vijay Verma, owner of a New Jersey jewelry store, admitted to allowing others to swipe cards he knew did not legitimately belong to them at his Jersey City, N.J., store. He would then split the proceeds of the phony transactions with these other conspirators.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Verma was indicted in October 2013 as part of a scheme to fabricate more than 7,000 false identities to obtain tens of thousands of credit cards. Participants in the scheme doctored credit reports to pump up the spending and borrowing power associated with the cards. They then borrowed or spent as much as they could, based on the phony credit history, but did not repay the debts – causing more than $200 million in confirmed losses to businesses and financial institutions.

The scheme involved a three-step process in which the defendants would make up a false identity by creating fraudulent identification documents and a fraudulent credit profile with the major credit bureaus; pump up the credit of the false identity by providing false information about that identity’s creditworthiness to those credit bureaus; then run up large charges.

Verma admitted to allowing others who came to his store to swipe cards he knew did not legitimately belong to them. He would then split the proceeds of the phony transactions with these other conspirators.

The count to which Verma pleaded guilty carries a maximum potential penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gain or loss caused by the offense. Sentencing is scheduled for September 25, 2014.

Vijay Verma, 46, of Iselin, N.J., pleaded guilty to one count of access device fraud. He will be sentenced on September 25, 2014.

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