Nassau Fugitive Captured After 4 Years on the Run: Justice Department

A Valley Stream man on the run for nearly four years was arrested and charged for his role in one of the largest credit card fraud schemes ever charged by the Justice Department, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said.

Habib Chaudhry, 49, was initially charged by complaint in February 2013 and then by indictment in September 2013. He has been a fugitive since. He was arrested in New Jersey.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Chaudhry was indicted as part of a conspiracy to fabricate more than 7,000 false identities to obtain tens of thousands of credit cards. Since then, 19 people have pleaded guilty in connection with the scheme.

The scheme involved a three-step process in which the perpetrators would make up a false identity by creating fraudulent identification documents and a phony credit profile with the major credit bureaus; pump up the credit of the false identity by providing bogus information about that identity’s creditworthiness; then borrow or spend as much as they could without repaying the debts. The scheme caused more than $200 million in confirmed losses to businesses and financial institutions.

The scope of the criminal fraud enterprise required the conspirators to construct an elaborate network of false identities. Across the country, the conspirators maintained more than 1,800 “drop addresses,” including houses, apartments and post office boxes, which they used as the mailing addresses for the false identities.

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