8-19-2024 4:21am

LOCAL SCAMMER

Maryland Man Sentenced for Role in Scheme to Steal More Than $1.5M from Victims Throughout the United States

A Maryland man was sentenced to 30 years in prison in Baltimore federal court for conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

According to court documents, Theodore Sapperstein, age 67, formerly of Pikesville, and his coconspirators unlawfully debited money from the bank accounts of unknowing victims throughout the United States without their authorization by creating shell companies and falsely representing to banks that debits against consumer-victims’ bank accounts were authorized as payment for services allegedly provided by those shell companies. To both conceal and continue conducting unauthorized debits, the scheme’s shell companies generated “micro debits” against other bank accounts controlled and funded by the scheme.

The micro debits artificially lowered shell companies’ return rates to levels that conspirators believed would reduce bank scrutiny and lessen potential negative impact on the scheme’s banking relations. Sapperstein facilitated the scheme’s use of fraudulent micro debits and helped broker payment processing services for the scheme, securing a payment processor whose company processed the unauthorized debits. The scheme caused more than $1.5 million in loss to victims throughout the United States.

“Those who knowingly participate in schemes to use personal financial information about American consumers to steal money from their accounts will be held accountable,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We are committed to investigating and prosecuting individuals who facilitate such schemes.”

“For those who think they can take the easy road to financial gains by stealing money people have worked hard for, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service wants you to know we will hold you accountable for the pain and losses you cause,” said Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Criminal Investigations Group. “Today’s sentencing of Mr. Sapperstein along with others who knowingly participated in these schemes is the culmination of relentless teamwork by law enforcement to bring these criminals to justice and continue to vigilantly protect the American public.”

“My office is committed to ferreting out and punishing the predatory conduct of white collar fraudsters who utilize, and often hide behind, shell companies and phony accounting and bookkeeping practices to steal money from unsuspecting victims,” said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron for the District of Maryland.

In July, Shoaib Ahmad of Canada was charged in the Central District of California with conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud for his role in the scheme. That matter remains ongoing.

According to court documents, the scheme is related to a longer-running scheme that has been the subject of multiple cases filed in Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas. In May 2023, a grand jury in Los Angeles returned an indictment in United States v. Courdy, et al. charging 14 defendants with RICO conspiracy and other charges in the Central District of California. On July 30, a grand jury in Los Angeles returned an indictment in United States v. LoConti, et al. charging six additional scheme participants with RICO conspiracy and other charges. These indictments allege that the defendants and associates debited consumer-victims’ bank accounts without authorization and used shell entities and “micro debits” to conceal the activity from banks. The “Information for Victims in Large Cases” section on the Consumer Protection Branch’s website contains additional information on United States v. Courdy, et al. In December 2023, scheme participant Luis Ramirez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud in federal court in San Diego. On May 22, Ramirez was sentenced to 51 months in prison for the access device conspiracy, with 24 months to run concurrently to his sentence in a separate case. A related scheme participant, Harold Sobel, pleaded guilty to bank fraud conspiracy in federal court in Las Vegas. In December 2022, Sobel was sentenced to 42 months in prison.

USPIS is investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Wei Xiang, Meredith Healy and Amy Kaplan of the Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant U.S. Attorney Darryl Tarver for the District of Maryland are prosecuting the case against Sapperstein, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.