Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., announced the indictment of a four-member identity theft ring, including ringleader AKEEM HENRY, a/k/a “AK,” a/k/a “Jimmy Hamilton,” 36; MICHAEL NOLAN, 38; DEVAUGH FRASER, 31; and RAMOY SUTHERLAND, a/k/a “Tyson,” 34; for a major scheme to defraud in which they accessed multiple victims’ phone numbers through SIM-swapping, stole their debit and credit cards from the mail, and drained the victims’ bank accounts, stealing more than $500,000 from just five of their victims. The defendants are charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with Grand Larceny in the Second Degree, Identity Theft in the First Degree, and Money Laundering in the Fourth Degree, among other counts. HENRY is also charged with Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree.[1]
“Each of these accounts, from a public-school PTA’s operating funds to a home health aide’s life savings, was drained within days,” said District Attorney Bragg. “We allege this operation stole credit and debit cards from the mail, and then activated them by taking over the victims’ phone numbers, before withdrawing cash, wiring funds, or going on shopping sprees. Fast-acting scams like these are on the rise, and we urge consumers to be vigilant when monitoring their accounts.”
“The defendants are accused of shamelessly stealing from people and organizations serving the public in need. As alleged, their scheme robbed victims of their life-savings, left a family stranded in a foreign country, and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of parent-teacher association funds,” said HSI New York Special Agent in Charge William S. Walker. “The HSI New York El Dorado Task Force Cyber Division, together with the NYPD, utilizes our collective, global investigative and cyber expertise to stop criminal schemes anywhere in the world. New Yorkers and the public at-large, deserve financial peace, and HSI is relentlessly committed to thwarting criminal bad actors intent on jeopardizing safety and security.”
SIM-Swapping
When “SIM swapping,” scammers transfer a victim’s phone number to a phone owned by the scammer. Once the phone number has been transferred to the scammer’s phone, that person can then receive or place calls and send text messages using the stolen number. He or she can then circumvent text-based two-factor authentication security measures and intercept text messages containing security codes needed to reset passwords and access the victim’s online accounts.
Alleged Scheme
According to court documents and statements made on the record in court, led by HENRY, the ring accessed at least five victims’ phone numbers through SIM-swapping, stole their debit and credit cards from the mail, and drained the five victims’ bank accounts of thousands of dollars each, amassing over a half a million dollars from the theft.
In the first reported scheme, on June 28, 2022, a home health aide contacted T-Mobile to report that his phone could not send or receive text messages and phone calls. A company representative told him that they would work to resolve the issue. The next day, he received a new SIM card for his device at a store. Later that day, he attempted to use his debit card at a grocery store, but the transaction was declined. He logged into his bank account and noticed that his accounts, which previously held over $74,000 – his life savings – had been drained to nothing. To date, he has not been reimbursed. The alleged identity theft ring used his stolen debit card to purchase over $72,000 worth of products and gift cards at Apple Stores across New York City in roughly 24 hours.
This pattern appears to have been replicated more than a dozen times by the alleged identity theft ring. The phone HENRY used contained images of numerous other stolen credit cards and encrypted communications in which HENRY discussed and shared the personal identifying information of other potential victims.
NOLAN, FRASER, and SUTHERLAND were wired stolen funds by members of the alleged identity theft ring and laundered the proceeds through certified checks, money orders and cash withdrawals. In addition to stealing the home health aide’s life savings, the ring drained over $300,000 from the Parent Teacher Association of a Brooklyn public school. In another instance, the ring took over the phone numbers and drained over $85,000 from the account of a Polish-American couple while they were on vacation in Poland, leaving them stranded in a foreign country, unable to use their phones or access their funds.
HENRY spent the stolen money to maintain a lavish lifestyle, including trips on private jets and helicopters and vacations in the Maldives, France, Monaco, and Jamaica. Other members of the ring likewise traveled on overseas vacations shortly after receiving their cut of the stolen funds.
Manhattan D.A.’s Cyber Crime Bureau
In September 2024, D.A. Bragg announced the creation of the Cyber Crime Bureau (“CCB”), an evolution of the Office’s longstanding cyber-crime practice tasked with the prosecution of computer crimes and cyber-enabled crimes. CCB utilizes complex investigative techniques and focuses on technically sophisticated and other “cutting edge” crimes which involve recent technological innovation and trends, such as the theft of cryptocurrency, SIM-swapping, computer and network intrusions, business email compromises, malware attacks, illicit dark-web vendors, and the use of Artificial Intelligence to facilitate criminal activity.
CCB’s expertise was highlighted in a number of recent cases, including the indictment of David Olivier for allegedly possessing at least four images of child sexual abuse following a CCB investigation that included complex blockchain analysis, and the indictment of Michael Lauchlan for allegedly stealing from customers of Coin Dispute Network, his sham cryptocurrency asset recovery business, also involving extensive blockchain analysis.
CCB has also prosecuted or assisted with investigations involving a major dark web drug trafficking ring, the use of cryptocurrency to provide financial support to terrorist groups operating in Syria, and a sophisticated $700,000 cryptocurrency investment scheme based out of Nigeria, among many others.
District Attorney Bragg thanks Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York and the El Dorado Task Force Cyber Intrusions Group and their partners at the New York Special Agent in Charge Office for their work on the investigation.
[1] The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court.
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