Oceansider charged in I.D. theft ring

An Oceanside attorney was among 111 people charged by the Queens district attorney on Oct. 7 in a massive international identity theft and counterfeit credit card operation.

According to a release from District Attorney Richard A. Brown, the defendants were members of five organized forged-credit-card and identity-theft rings based in Queens, with ties to Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. They allegedly stole the credit information of thousands of consumers, causing more than $13 million in losses over 16 months. Brown said it was the largest identity-theft bust in U.S. history.

“Many of the defendants charged today are accused of going on nationwide shopping sprees, staying at five-star hotels, renting luxury automobiles and private jets and purchasing tens of thousands of dollars worth of high-end electronics and expensive handbags and jewelry with forged credit cards that contained the account information of unsuspecting consumers,” Brown said in a release. “Even after the culprits are caught and prosecuted, their victims are still faced with the difficult task of having to repair their credit ratings and financial reputations.”

Oceanside attorney Susan Persaud allegedly assisted the operation by advising her clients on how to commit credit card fraud and evade law enforcement. Police also say that Persaud accepted payment in the form of illegally obtained items, such as expensive designer shoes.

Persaud was charged with fourth-degree grand larceny, second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and fourth-degree criminal facilitation.

The operation was far-reaching and complex, according to Brown. The bosses of various enterprises within it allegedly obtained credit card account numbers and blank credit cards through various means. Some numbers came from suppliers overseas. Others, the D.A.’s office explained, came from suppliers in America known as “skimmers” — employees of restaurants, bars, stores or financial institutions who have access to credit cards and who use skimming devices to swipe information off the cards.

The bosses then allegedly sent the numbers to a “manufacturer,” who produced new credit cards. In some cases, police said, the manufacturers also forged identification, like driver’s licenses, to accompany the credit cards.

Once the cards were produced, the indictment alleges, they were distributed to the enterprises’ “shopping crews,” who used the cards throughout New York and across the U.S. Fraudulent purchases were allegedly made in both the Roosevelt Field Mall and the Walt Whitman Mall.

According to the indictment, the shoppers were aided in some cases by store owners or employees, as well as bank employees who helped steal credit card information.

The investigation, dubbed “Operation Swiper,” began in October 2009, when a joint task force from the Queens D.A.’s office and the NYPD began investigating an identity-theft ring operating in the South Ozone Park section of Queens. The investigation involved surveillance, intelligence-gathering and court-authorized electronic eavesdropping on thousands of conversations intercepted on dozens of phones.

Calls to Persaud’s home were not returned.