Nassau Man Part Of Credit Card Theft Ring: US Attorney

A Nassau man was among 11 who were arrested on Wednesday and charged with running a scheme to use fake identities to get credit cards and make millions of dollars in purchases.

Federal authorities say that the group used fake, or "synthetic," identities to get credit cards and made about $3 million in charges that were never repaid. Three of the people involved were also charged with money laundering conspiracy for their efforts to try to hide the scheme.

“As alleged, the defendants operated a ‘bust out’ scheme using fraudulently obtained credit cards to finance expenses, ranging from furniture to real estate and totaling $3 million. Now they will be held accountable,” said United States Attorney Richard Donoghue. “Together, with our law enforcement partners, we stand committed to protecting financial institutions from fraud.”

As alleged in court filings, between January 2013 and December 2017, the group — which included Zainoelbaks Karimbux, 50, of Bellerose — used synthetic identities created by using various types of personal identification information (names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers) from different individuals to create a fake identity and obtain credit cards from financial institutions.

They then used those cards to make purchases that they had no intention to repay, Donoghue said, including mortgages on three residential properties in Queens. They also used shell companies that did little or no legitimate business to record hundreds of thousands of dollars on the fraudulently obtained credit cards, and then received payment for the sham transactions from financial institutions and credit card processors, according to Donoghue.

If convicted, Karimbux faces up to 10 years in prison.