Two charged in fraud case carried out by Conn. student

Federal authorities have brought charges against two additional defendants in a multimillion-dollar shipping return fraud scheme alleged to have been carried out by a former University of Miami student from Darien.

Brock David Fischer of Robins, Iowa, and Miguel Angel Fortier Jr. of Milwaukee, Wis., both are alleged to have been co-conspirators with Matthew Frederic Bergwall.

Fischer, 27, and Fortier, 24, were arrested on an indictment charging both with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said.

“If convicted, each faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison,” the office said in a news release. The government also is seeking an order of forfeiture from the proceeds of the alleged criminal enterprise, the U.S. attorney’s office said.

Fortier appeared in federal court in Milwaukee on June 28 and was released, the U.S. attorney’s office said. Fischer made his first appearance in court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday, the office said.

Prosecutors allege that, starting around December 2021, the three co-conspirators “gained unauthorized access to the tracking platform of a multinational shipping, receiving, and supply chain management company,” the U.S. attorney’s office said.

That allowed them to enter fake tracking information for goods shipped by the company for retailers located all over the country, the office said.

Prosecutors said the three men served as “administrators” for “the service,” selling access to the company’s tracking platform.

The release said the group was responsible for nearly 10,000 fraudulent returns that caused retailers to lose more than $8 million in merchandise. Court papers in Bergwall’s case previously put the total figure at $5 million.