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Amitoj Kapoor and Siddharth Lillaney, both of Glastonbury, Connecticut, have been charged with using thousands of stolen identities to run the multi-million-dollar scheme.
The two 29-year-olds are alleged to have signed up for accounts on the gambling sites using personal identifying information, or PII, of identity theft victims in Connecticut and other states.
This was done to capitalize on promotional bonuses, credits or bonus bets that were offered when a user created an account or made their first bet, according to the 45-count indictment.
To open the gambling accounts, the defendants allegedly purchased the PII of thousands of victims on the darknet and through Telegram, an encrypted messaging service.
Prosecutors say Kapoor and Lillaney also kept accounts at websites such as BeenVerified.com and TruthFinder.com to acquire more background information on identity theft victims.
“As alleged, these two men used thousands of stolen identities to open online gambling accounts and exploit new user incentives, which for several years allowed them to gamble with stolen money,” said U.S. Attorney Sullivan. “Their winning streak is now over. I thank our partners with IRS-Criminal Investigation and Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection for their extraordinary investigative efforts, and for continuing to work diligently to identify all who have been victimized by this criminal conduct.”
“Individuals who commit identity theft of this magnitude deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” said Thomas Demeo, Special Agent in Charge of Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office. “It’s alleged those charged caused immeasurable hardship to the victims of their identity theft scheme. IRS Criminal Investigation remains committed to unraveling complex financial transactions and money laundering schemes where criminals attempt to conceal the true source of their money.”
“Although this started as a gaming-related investigation, the scope of the alleged identity theft and fraud, with thousands of potential victims across the country, quickly became the primary focus of this investigation,” said DCP Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli. “First and foremost, we are a consumer protection agency, and protecting the public by preventing and rooting out fraud is our top priority. If you believe you are a victim of identity theft, visit IdentityTheft.Gov to report the fraud and take steps to recover your identity. Thank you to our skilled team of DCP Gaming investigators as well as the IRS Criminal Investigation Division for their diligent work on this case. We look forward to working with the U.S. Attorney's office to see this case through to its conclusion.”
The indictment charges Kapoor and Lillaney with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and identity fraud, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years; 23 counts of wire fraud, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years on each count; eight counts of identity fraud, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 15 years on each count; two counts of aggravated identity theft, an offense that carries a mandatory consecutive term of imprisonment of two years; one count of money laundering conspiracy, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years; and 10 counts of money laundering, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years on each count.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gamlbling911.com
