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Press Release
PROVIDENCE, RI – The ninth of ten individuals charged in a series of indictments, informations, and criminal complaints filed in U.S. District Court in Providence for their alleged participation in conspiracies and schemes to steal and use the personal identifying information of others to defraud banks, finance companies, car dealerships and retailers, has been arrested and has been ordered detained in federal custody.
Angel L. Morales, 51, of Bronx, New York, traveled to the Dominican Republic in September 2018, shortly after federal agents executed search warrants at the New Jersey apartment of one of his alleged co-conspirators. Morales returned to the United States on March 30, 2019, and was arrested in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., after arriving on a flight from the Dominican Republic. Morales was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Providence on Monday and ordered detained by U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Patricia A. Sullivan.
Morales is among six individuals named in a 32-count superseding indictment returned on February 6, 2019. The indictment charges Morales with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and three counts of bank fraud. Morales is the fifth person named in the indictment to be arrested. An arrest warrant has been issued for the sixth person.
In addition to the individuals named in the superseding indictment, four individuals have been convicted in federal court for their roles in various related conspiracies and fraud schemes.
According to court documents, investigations led by the U.S. Secret Service with the assistance of the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General/Office of Investigations; United States Postal Inspection Service; the East Providence, Warwick, and Pawtucket, R.I. Police Departments; Seekonk and Mansfield, MA, Police Departments; and the Rhode Island State Police, have determined that the defendants, most known to one another, allegedly participated in various conspiracies and schemes to steal and use individuals’ personal identifying information, including Social Security numbers, to defraud banks, credit unions, finance companies, and retailers of hundreds of thousands of dollars in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.
Also named in the 32-count superseding indictment are:
Other individuals charged as a result of the investigation include:
The investigations and charges brought in these cases are announced by United States Attorney Aaron L. Weisman, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Secret Service Stephen Marks, and Scott E. Antolik, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Field Office of the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General/Office of Investigations.
Indictments, criminal complaints, and informations are merely accusations. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney William J. Ferland.
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Jim Martin
(401) 709-5357