Reisterstown Woman Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison for Identity Theft

BALTIMORE, MD — A Reisterstown woman was sentenced to three years in prison Friday for her role in a fraud scheme that involved stealing people's credit card information and using it for personal gain, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland.

Shivani Patel, 30, of Reisterstown, defrauded more than 200 victims, officials said.

From at least June to December 2013, Patel and her then boyfriend Eddie Carey, 32, of Baltimore, bought stolen information from the internet, then encoded that data onto counterfeit credit cards. Those involved in the scheme created false forms of identification with their pictures but the victims' personal information.

Patel and others traveled out of state to use the cards — to Pennsylvania, North and South Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia and Georgia — the U.S. Attorney said.

In one case, Patel created an alter ego to get a loan for a 2010 BMW 528XI, officials said. With her alias of "Aishwarya Gupta," she got a loan of $42,073.22 to buy the vehicle.

Officials said they found all the evidence to show what was going on in the Reisterstown home when they executed a search warrant there on Dec. 18, 2013.

"A complete set up for the fraud scheme was on the dining table, including a computer with the credit profiles and credit reports, credit cards in various states of manufacture, money gram receipts for payments for the stolen credit card numbers and profiles, lists of personal identity information, dozens of credit cards bearing victims’ names and accounts, as well as dozens of fraudulent identification to match the credit cards, all bearing the information of the victims but the photographs of co-conspirators," the U.S. Attorney reported.

Officials said Patel's role in the scheme involved delivering cards and recruiting other workers. In her basement, authorities reported that they found a small notebook with information such as a list of money grams that were owed.

After her three-year prison sentence, Patel will be on supervised probation for five years. She and her then boyfriend, Carey, will also be required to pay $61,030.78 in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney.

Carey was sentenced to two years in prison and three years of supervised release, officials said.

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