Pikesville man pleads guilty for role in fraud to steal more than $1.5M

A Pikesville man pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to commit bank fraud for his role in a scheme to steal more than $1.5 million, according to the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office.

From August 2020 to

August 2021, Theodore Sapperstein, 66, of Pikesville, conspired with two people to defraud financial institutions, according to his guilty plea.

The group debited money from the bank accounts of victims throughout the United States without their authorization, created shell companies and portrayed the charges as authorized payments for services provided by those shell companies, according to his plea agreement.

The unauthorized debits caused returned transactions that could create scrutiny against the shell companies from banks, so Sapperstein and his co-conspirators used a large number of small charges, according to his guilty plea. These “micro debits” were used to artificially lower return rates to levels that Sapperstein and his co-conspirators believed would reduce bank suspicion, according to his guilty plea.

He also helped broker a payment processor who handled the unauthorized debits and micro debits, according to Sapperstein’s guilty plea.

He admitted as part of the plea agreement that more than $1.5 million in loss was reasonably foreseeable to him.

“Mr. Sapperstein plead guilty yesterday, and the statement of the facts speaks for itself,” said David Irwin, Sapperstein’s attorney.

He faces a maximum of 30 years for conspiracy to commit bank fraud. His sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 15.