Crime & Safety
North Brunswick Man Pleads Guilty To $10M Bank Fraud Scheme
Habib Majid pleaded guilty in a bank fraud case that affected financial institutions in multiple states, authorities said.
SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — A man from North Brunswick has admitted to his role in a large-scale conspiracy to commit bank fraud in various states, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said.
Habib Majid, 35, of North Brunswick, pleaded guilty before Chief Judge Wolfson on April 21, on charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in states including New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Michigan.
Majid was charged along with two others - Erm Ayaz, 36, of Bayside, Brooklyn, and Syed Abbas, 32, of Westerville, Ohio.
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Majid, Ayaz, Abbas, and other conspirators attempted to defraud financial institutions and merchant processors of approximately $10 million and caused a loss of approximately $3.5 million, Honig’s office said.
According to court documents, from 2018 through April 2020, Majid, Ayaz, Abbas, and others conspired to defraud several banks and electronic merchant processors.
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They established bank accounts associated with sham entities that had no legitimate purpose and issued checks payable to other shell companies associated with the criminal organization, knowing that the payor accounts had insufficient funds, according to a news release from Honig’s office.
The conspirators also conducted numerous fraudulent credit card and debit card transactions between shell companies to credit payee accounts and overdraw payor accounts, said the news release.
According to court documents, they also used these shell companies to execute temporary refund credits to checking accounts associated with the criminal organization, where no prior legitimate transaction had occurred.
The conspiracy charges carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, a fine of $1 million or twice the gross gain to the defendants or loss to others, whichever is greater, said Honig’s office.
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