Middlesex County, New Jersey, Duo Charged With Credit Card Fraud And Aggravated Identity Theft Conspiracy

NEWARK, N.J. – A man and woman from Middlesex County, New Jersey, were arrested today for their alleged participation in a credit card fraud and aggravated identity theft conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Henry Abdul, 30, and Alexus Omowole, 22, both of North Brunswick, New Jersey, are each charged by complaint with one count of bank fraud conspiracy and one count of aggravated identity theft. Abdul and Omowole are expected to make their initial appearances this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph A. Dickson in Newark federal court.

According to the complaint:

Between October 2015 and the present, Abdul and Omowole participated in a conspiracy to obtain control of and use credit card accounts of others through a fraudulent scheme commonly referred to as a “credit card takeover” scheme. A person who is not the account owner or authorized user of a credit card account contacts the financial institution and poses as the account owner in order to change the personal information associated with the account to information familiar to the criminal. The information changed may include the residence, email address, or telephone number associated with the account. These changes to the account are designed to give the criminal control of the account without the actual account owners’ knowledge or authorization, and may permit the criminal to receive new credit cards associated with the compromised accounts. Once in control of the account, the criminals profit by using the compromised accounts to make purchases, transfer funds to other accounts under the criminal’s control, or sell the account information to third parties.

In this case, Abdul’s residential address was used as part of the takeover conspiracy, and both Abdul and Omowole profited from the conspiracy by using several compromised credit cards at various retail locations in New Jersey and elsewhere.

The bank fraud conspiracy charge carries a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million. The aggravated identity theft charge carries a mandatory sentence of two years in prison, which must run consecutive to any other term of imprisonment imposed by the Court.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael McCarthy in Newark, New Jersey; and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service under the direction of Acting Inspector in Charge Ruth M. Mendonca, with the investigation leading to today’s arrests.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David M. Eskew and Nicholas Grippo of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Newark.

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