Press Releases
HARVEY MAN CONVICTED BY FEDERAL JURY FOR ACCESS DEVICE FRAUD AND BANK FRAUD
November 13, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MORRIS VIRDEAN WARNER, age 45, a resident of Harvey, Louisiana was convicted on November 12, 2008 in U. S. District Court of forty-three (43) counts of unauthorized access device fraud, counterfeit access device fraud, and bank fraud announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten.
According to evidence introduced at trial, from approximately February, 2004 and continuing to June, 2005, WARNER installed computer equipment and recording devices at a dry cleaners owned by his family in such a manner as to obtain the customers’ Debit Card information and PINs. WARNER then matched the PIN’s he obtained with the customers’ Debit Card information and took the customers’ Debit Card information and encoded it on the magnetic strip on the white plastic cards to be used at ATM’s. WARNER then made unauthorized withdrawals in both the New Orleans area and in Florida using the encoded white plastic cards over a three to four week period both in May/June 2004 and 2005. To avoid detection, WARNER always wore a baseball cap pulled down low over his forehead and sunglasses to make any identification from ATM cameras difficult. During these two time periods, WARNER stole over $120,000 from New Orleans area Bank customers’ accounts.
The defendant faces a maximum term of imprisonment of ten (10) years, a fine of $250,000.00 and three (3) years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment for each of the forty (40) counts of access device fraud; and a maximum term of imprisonment of thirty (30) years, a fine of $1,000,000.00 and five (5) years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment for each of the three (3) counts of bank fraud.
The case was investigated by the Secret Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution was handled by Assistant U. S. Attorneys Harry McSherry, Dorothy Manning Taylor and Brian J. Capitelli.
