Cincinnati Man Sentenced for Stealing Special Agent’s Identity in connection with eBay and PayPal Scheme

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Rohit Jawa, 25, formerly of Cincinnati, Ohio, was sentenced today to 48 months in prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Jawa pleaded guilty on Nov. 17, 2015. According to court documents, from at least February 2013 through June 16, 2015, the defendant devised and executed a complex identity theft scheme to defraud financial institutions, insurance companies, and others.  The defendant managed numerous PayPal accounts that were engaged in a scheme to defraud eBay buyers and eBay’s third-party parcel insurance company.  During this period, the defendant repeatedly transferred money representing the proceeds of his fraud scheme from and between accounts he controlled in victim names to accounts he controlled in his own name.  In connection with this scheme, the defendant stole the identity of a Special Agent of the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS OIG), and then used that identity to fraudulently gain access to law enforcement databases from which he stole personal identifying information of multiple victims. The defendant then used the identifying information of those individuals to open further fraudulent financial accounts in their names, without their knowledge or consent.

Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Paul M. Abbate, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; and Rico Medina, Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Investigations for USPS OIG, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga. 

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office Cyber Task Force.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Whitney Dougherty Russell prosecuted the case.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.  Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:15-cr-239.