Two Elmont men charged with heading identify-theft ring

Two Elmont men were arrested and charged with heading up an identity-theft and counterfeit credit card operation based in Queens. Isijola Olusegan, 21, the alleged boss, and Darcel Kirby, 46, the alleged underboss, were arraigned in Queens Supreme Court Aug. 8. Olusegan was found and arrested in Texas based on a Queens County warrant.

“Credit card fraud and identity theft continue to flourish as more and more financial transactions occur over the Internet,” Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. “These crimes cost millions of dollars in losses to consumers, businesses and financial institutions and will be vigorously investigated and prosecuted.”

Along with 11 other defendants, Olusegan and Kirby defrauded numerous consumers, retailers and financial institutions, according to Brown’s office. For a period of nine months starting in June 2011, the ring allegedly stole bank account numbers and personal information from consumers to fund shopping sprees throughout New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Florida.

The defendants obtained credit card numbers through various methods, officials said, and then created fraudulent credit and identification cards that were given to “shoppers” to purchase items. The ring allegedly targeted retailers including Best Buy, Home Depot, Loehmann’s, Walgreens and Sephora. Olusegan and Kirby then either resold the items or returned the purchases for cash, the D.A.’s office said.

The New York City Police Department’s Financial Crimes Task Force and Special Investigations Division conducted the investigation, with help from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Brown praised the efforts of officials from both organizations.

Olusegan was charged with first- and second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, third-degree grand larceny and first-degree identity theft. Kirby was charged with third-degree grand larceny, first-degree identity theft and second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument. The 11 other defendants, who are all from Brooklyn or Queens, were charged with varying degrees of identity theft, grand larceny, criminal possession of a forged instrument, falsifying business records, petit larceny, scheme to defraud and conspiracy.

Officials learned of the ring during a larger investigation of a $13 million credit card and identify-fraud ring that reached around the world. The investigation began in Queens in October of 2009. The massive ring, dubbed “Operation Swiper,” was dismantled in October 2011, and a total of 111 people were arrested, 75 of whom have pleaded guilty to date. Some of the leading “bosses” in the original bust face sentences of up to 16 years in prison.