North Brunswick Man And Woman Ran Credit Theft Ring, Feds Say

NORTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — A man and woman from North Brunswick were arrested Wednesday for their alleged participation in a credit card fraud ring and aggravated identity theft conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Henry Abdul, 30, and Alexus Omowole, 22, both of North Brunswick, are each charged by complaint with one count of bank fraud conspiracy and one count of aggravated identity theft. According to the complaint, between October 2015 and the present, Abdul and Omowole participated in a “credit card takeover” scheme.

A person who is not the account owner or authorized user of a credit card account contacts the financial institution and poses as the account owner in order to change the personal information associated with the account to information familiar to the criminal. The information changed may include the home address, email address, or telephone number associated with the account. These changes may permit the criminal to receive new credit cards in someone else's name.

In this case, Abdul’s home address in North Brunswick was used as part of the takeover conspiracy, and both Abdul and Omowole profited from the conspiracy by using several compromised credit cards at various retail locations in New Jersey and elsewhere.

The bank fraud conspiracy charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million. The aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory sentence of two years in prison, which must run consecutive to any other term of imprisonment imposed by the Court.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with the arrests.

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