Lake Mary Man Convicted Of Mail Fraud Involving Scheme To Defraud Ebay And Paypal

Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney Maria Chapa Lopez announces that Brian R. Kucharski (28, Lake Mary) has pleaded guilty to mail fraud.  Kucharski faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to the plea agreement, Kucharski created eBay accounts using stolen and fraudulently obtained personal identifying information, including the names and dates of birth of over 500 individuals. Kucharski negotiated the fraudulent sale of fictitious products, predominantly gift cards, through eBay. The eBay customers paid for the items through fraudulent PayPal accounts that were created by Kucharski. Instead of mailing the purchased items to the customers, Kucharski used the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to disguise his fraudulent activities by mailing random items to other individuals, and using the USPS tracking numbers to represent to eBay and its customers that he had mailed the purchased items. Ultimately, the victims never received the items and eBay routinely denied their demands for a refund.

Postal customers all over the United States became concerned after they received priority mail packages containing random items of no value. As a result of complaints made to local police departments and post offices, investigators identified Kucharski as the perpetrator of the scheme.

Further, Kucharski used the fraudulently obtained proceeds of his illegal activities to purchase precious metals, which were delivered to him via the U.S. mail.

This case was investigated by U.S. Postal Inspection Service. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ilianys Rivera Miranda.