11 Defendants Charged In Manhattan Federal Court With Multimillion-Dollar Identity Theft And Fraud Scheme

Jamal Simon and his Co-Conspirators Stole Other Individuals’ Identities Fraudulently To Obtain More Than $3.5 Million in Cash, Gift Cards, and Merchandise

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging JAMAL SIMON, DAVID BOYD, a/k/a “Fresh,” MELVIN BROWN, a/k/a “Flint,” DARREN DAVIDSON, a/k/a “Eddie Gray,” DWIGHT FORDE, YVETTE LUBRUN, RASHAUN McKAY, a/k/a “Buster,” MEGAN MONTOYA, DEMALI MOSELY, DWAYNE NORVILLE, a/k/a “Lux,” and JILLIAN WALCOTT with conspiring to commit access device fraud and wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.  SIMON and WALCOTT also are charged with wrongfully obtaining and disclosing individually identifiable health information.  Eight of the defendants were arrested on these charges yesterday in California, New Jersey, and New York.  BROWN, LUBRUN, McKAY, MOSELY, and WALCOTT were presented and arraigned yesterday before United States Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker in Manhattan federal court.  BOYD and DAVIDSON will be presented and arraigned today before Judge Parker.  MONTOYA will be presented today in federal court in the Northern District of California.  In addition, NORVILLE is currently in custody on state charges in Brooklyn, New York, and will be transferred to federal custody.  SIMON and FORDE remain at large.  The case has been assigned to United States District Judge Paul A. Crotty.

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “These 11 defendants allegedly developed a sophisticated scheme to steal from financial institutions and their customers.  Through brazen identity theft and fraud, the defendants allegedly stole millions of dollars from credit card companies and banks to line their own pockets.  Thanks to the skilled investigative work of the FBI, the defendants’ alleged crime spree has been brought to a halt.”

FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. said:  “While most people are careful to secure their financial accounts and personally identifiable information, there are others who are skilled at finding this information, despite any safeguards that have been put in place to protect it, and using it to their advantage.  Today’s defendants are charged with doing just that.  At the end of the day, more than $3.5 million was swindled from innocent victims and financial institutions.  While we work to bring these criminals to justice, the public should be reminded to remain aware and report any suspicious activity that could serve as an attempt to exploit their identity.”

According to the allegations in the Indictment[1]:

From March 2017 through at least July 2017, SIMON, BOYD, BROWN, DAVIDSON, FORDE, LUBRUN, McKAY, MONTOYA, MOSELY, NORVILLE, and WALCOTT carried out a wide-ranging fraudulent scheme that involved unlawfully obtaining individually identifiable information of other individuals (including names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, birthdates, bank account numbers, credit and debit card numbers, and cellphone service provider account numbers); impersonating those individuals in order to obtain unauthorized access to their bank accounts, credit and debit card accounts, and cellphone service provider accounts; and then using such access to, among other things, facilitate the fraudulent transfer of funds to bank accounts controlled by members of the conspiracy and the unauthorized purchasing of merchandise and gift cards at retail stores.  The defendants’ scheme defrauded financial institutions and individual victims of more than $3.5 million.

SIMON and his co-conspirators obtained individually identifiable information of prospective victims from, among other sources, WALCOTT, who stole patient information during her employment at an urgent care clinic in Manhattan, New York.

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SIMON, 30, BOYD, 29, BROWN, 33, DAVIDSON, 33, FORDE, 31, LUBRUN, 27, McKAY, 35, MOSELY, 29, NORVILLE, 30, and WALCOTT, 34, each of Brooklyn, New York, and MONTOYA, 27, of Oakland, California, are each charged with one count of conspiring to commit access device fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of seven-and-a-half years in prison; one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and one count of aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory sentence of two years in prison that must be imposed consecutively to any other sentence.  SIMON and WALCOTT also are each charged with one count of wrongfully obtaining individually identifiable health information and one count of wrongfully obtaining and disclosing individually identifiable health information, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.  The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the judge. 

Mr. Berman praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI.

If you believe you were a victim of this crime, including a victim entitled to restitution, and you wish to provide information to law enforcement and/or receive notice of future developments in the case or additional information, please contact the Victim/Witness Unit at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, at (866) 874-8900.  For additional information, go to: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nys/victimwitness.html.

The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit.  Assistant United States Attorneys Nicholas W. Chiuchiolo and Robert B. Sobelman are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

[1]   As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment, and the description of the Indictment set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.