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HECTOR BETIKU PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO FRAUD AND IDENTITY THEFT CHARGES

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Hector Betiku, 28, a British national and resident alien who briefly attended the University of Vermont in 2008, pleaded not guilty today in United States District Court in Burlington to fraud and identity theft charges. U.S. Magistrate Judge John M. Conroy ordered that Betiku remain in jail pending trial. The defendant has been in custody since his arrest in Iowa on these charges late last month.

According to court records, on August 13, 2009, a federal grand jury in Burlington handed up a 19-count indictment charging Betiku with wire fraud, bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. According to the indictment, Betiku attended UVM in the fall of 2008. While in Vermont, Betiku devised a scheme to defraud both friends and strangers by using their names, bank account information and other means of identification to obtain unauthorized access to their bank accounts and then to misappropriate funds, to fraudulently use other people’s credit card numbers, and to order and obtain unauthorized credit cards. Among other things, Betiku allegedly obtained unauthorized access to one victim’s bank account in California and transferred about $40,000 to a student account he had at UVM. He also fraudulently used other people’s credit card accounts to order thousands of dollars in merchandise, and defrauded a local credit union by forging a signature on a stolen check.

The United States Attorney emphasizes that the charges in the indictment are merely accusations and that the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty.

Betiku faces up to 30 years of imprisonment and a fine of up to $1,000,000 on the bank fraud counts. The other charges carry lesser penalties. The actual sentence in the event of conviction would be determined with reference to federal sentencing guidelines.

This case was investigated by the University of Vermont and Burlington Police Departments and the United States Secret Service. Betiku is represented by Maryanne Kampmann. The prosecutor is Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Waples.