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Ring Leader Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for
$24 Million Fraud Scheme
LEV L. DASSIN, the Acting United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, ANDREW CUOMO, the Attorney General
of the State of New York, and RICHARD H. NEIMAN, the
Superintendent for the New York State Banking Department,
announced today that TAHIR ALI KHAN, the leader of a ring that
used fake identification documents to bilk over 50 financial
institutions out of more than $24 million, was sentenced today by
United States District Judge LORETTA A. PRESKA to 14 years in
prison. KHAN was indicted, along with 14 other co-defendants, in
a multi-count Indictment unsealed on August 15, 2007. Today's
sentence follows KHAN's guilty plea on November 25, 2008, to a
four-count Superseding Information charging him with one count of
conspiracy to commit credit card fraud, one count of conspiracy to
commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and two counts of aggravated
identity theft.
As set forth in the Government's sentencing submission
and other public filings in this case, KHAN headed a ring that
produced false identification documents in fictitious names. The
documents, purporting to have been issued by state and federal
government authorities, included driver's licenses, resident alien
cards, social security cards, and tax identification documents.
In order to build financial credit for the fictitious identities,
members of KHAN's ring, among other things, fraudulently
established bank accounts, credit card accounts, apartment
leases, and telephone and utility accounts in the names of the
fictitious identities. Participants in the ring also applied for
and obtained lucrative bank loans, home mortgage loans, increased
credit card limits, lines of credit, and other financial benefits
in the names of the fictitious identities or in the names of sham
businesses supposedly operated by those fictitious identities.
The loans and credit card debt were then defaulted on, resulting
in millions in losses to numerous financial institutions. Losses
from the ring's fraudulent activities exceeded $24 million.
In sentencing KHAN to 14 years in prison, Judge PRESKA
stated that KHAN had been involved in "a vast array of crimes, of
frauds and thefts, extending well over a decade." Judge PRESKA
further noted that KHAN committed those crimes charged in the
Superseding Information while a fugitive from justice. As set
forth in the Government's sentencing submission, after federal
authorities arrested KHAN on August 15, 2007, they learned
through a fingerprint match that KHAN had been previously
arrested federally in 1995, in California, under the name
"Jonathan Branscum," but that KHAN absconded in that case after
being granted bail. KHAN dropped the name "Jonathan Branscum,"
and moved to the New York area, using a different name.
Judge PRESKA further stated that KHAN's "entry into the
United States was itself the subject of identity theft." Count
Three of the Superseding Information, to which KHAN pleaded
guilty, charged KHAN with stealing the identity of a real person,
"Waheed Khan," in order to obtain a permanent resident card and
other immigration benefits.
In addition to the prison term, Judge PRESKA sentenced
KHAN to three years of supervised release, restitution in the
amount of $24,649,890.32, and forfeiture of items seized in
August 2007 from KHAN's homes in Alabama and New York.
Acting United States Attorney LEV L. DASSIN said this
investigation is "a model of cooperation between federal, state
and local prosecutors and investigative agencies."
New York Attorney General ANDREW CUOMO said, "TAHIR ALI
KHAN developed a comprehensive scheme to steal millions of
dollars from an overburdened financial industry, and now he is
paying for his crimes. My office will continue to aggressively
pursue those whose greed supersedes their regard for the law in
New York State."
"We are pleased to have participated in this joint
investigation and successful prosecution," said RICHARD H.
NEIMAN, Superintendent of Banks for the State of New York. "As
this case demonstrates, law enforcement agencies will continue to
work closely to aggressively pursue individuals who attempt to
take advantage of our banking system. I commend the Banking
Department's Criminal Investigations Bureau staff for their work
over the last four years on this matter."
Of the sixteen defendants charged in the Indictment,
KHAN, 32, most recently of Hoover, Alabama, is the twelfth
defendant to plead guilty and the sixth to be sentenced. PRADIPT
SHARMA was granted a deferred prosecution agreement. Criminal
charges remain pending against four defendants, including
MUHAMMAD SHARIF, ARIE BENSHIMON, SYED HASSAN, and SYED SHAH, who
remains a fugitive. As to those defendants, the charges
contained in the Indictment are merely accusations and the
defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case is being jointly prosecuted by the U.S.
Attorney's Office and the New York State Attorney General's
Office. The prosecution resulted from a 16-month investigation
conducted by the New York State Attorney General's Office, the
New York City Police Department, New York State Police, the
Hoover, Alabama Police Department, and the New York State Banking
Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department
of Homeland Security's U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
the United States Postal Inspection Service, the New York State
Department of Motor Vehicles, the New York City Department of
Probation, the Social Security Administration, and the United
States Secret Service. Mr. DASSIN and Mr. CUOMO thanked those
agencies for their assistance.
Mr. DASSIN praised the work of the Attorney General's
Office, the New York State Banking Department, and other state,
local and federal law enforcement agencies in the investigation,
stating that the Indictment dismantled an extremely active and
aggressive criminal ring that caused more than $24 million in
losses to financial institutions in New York and other states.
Assistant United States Attorneys LISA ZORNBERG and
ANNA ARREOLA, and Assistant Attorney General MERYL LUTSKY—who
is designated as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in this case—are in charge of the prosecution.
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