A Brooklyn man has admitted helping to masterminding an online credit card-fraud operation that apparently stretched from Russia to New York City, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., and involved more than $700,000 in charges rung up on stolen accounts, the Department of Justice said on Wednesday.
Jonathan Oliveras, 26, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee in the Eastern District of Virginia to a two-count criminal information charging him with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, the DOJ said.
Oliveras admitted to managing a scheme to purchase stolen credit card account information from individuals believed to be in Russia, then distributing that information so it could be used to make fraudulent purchases, the DOJ said.
Oliveras admitted to illegally possessing information from 2,341 stolen credit card accounts and having equipment to put that information onto counterfeit cards, the DOJ said. Companies have reported more than 4,400 fraudulent charges totaling $770,674, the DOJ said. Oliveras also possessed 409 gift, debit or credit cards that had a total stored value of $42,688. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $1,541,349 on the wire fraud charge, and two years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the identity theft charge when he is sentenced on Oct. 28.
