16 people of Indian origin charged in $3.5m fraud

Sixteen Indian-origin people, including a woman, in the US have been charged for their alleged role in a massive stolen credit card and identity theft operation resulting in losses of over $3.5 million to individuals, financial institutions and retail businesses.

Muhammad Rana, 40, of Queens in New York, was the leader of the massive fraud scheme and was helped by his deputy Inderjeet Singh (24). In all, 30 individuals have been charged as authorities cracked down on the extensive stolen credit card and identity theft ring.

The ring was allegedly responsible for stealing the personal credit information of hundreds of consumers and costing the individuals, financial institutions and retail businesses more than $3.5 million in losses over the course of the alleged scheme.

Others charged are Sonam Kukreja, 26, Balwinder Singh, 36, Ranjet Singh, 30, Ankit Chadha, 29, Kamaljot Singh, 24, Tanveer Sidhu, 25, Gauruv Chhabra, 33, Pradeep Grover, 46, and Gurbachan Singh, 55, Shingara Singh, 28, Sukhjinder Singh, 32, Tajinder Singh, 25, Vinny Maksudpuri (age not given), Varinder Singh, 27, of 118th Street in Richmond Hill, Queens.

Queens district attorney Richard Brown said on Thursday many of the defendants charged are accused of going on shopping sprees, purchasing tens of thousands of dollars worth of high-end electronics and fashion merchandise with forged credit cards that contained the account information of unsuspecting consumers.

As part of their alleged scheme, defendants ordered new credit cards for cardholders and stole them out of their mailboxes when they were delivered, he added.