A Minnesota man was sentenced to 33 months in prison for stealing and using credit card processing machines to steal approximately $215,000. Daniel Martez Walker pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit access device fraud.
Walker conspired with others to steal point-of-sale (POS) machines from Twin Cities businesses, including bowling alleys and liquor stores.
More information about this case may be found here.
Former Payroll Clerk Agrees to Plead Guilty in $2 Million Embezzlement Case
A California woman agrees to plead guilty to wire fraud for stealing approximately $2 million from two Los Angeles area businesses. Claudia Alvarez Calderon, admitted that she used the names of several non-existent or former employees who were no longer entitled to receive pay to fraudulently obtain wages and expense reimbursements from Onyx, Inc., and Quadrtech, Inc.
Over the course of nearly a decade, Calderon fraudulently entered information into a computer system that caused Automatic Data Processing, Inc. to make direct deposits or issue checks for the bogus employees.
More information about this case may be found here.
Former Citibank Employee Sentenced for Causing Damage to a Protected Computer
A Dallas man who worked at Citibank Regents Campus in Irving, Texas, in 2012 and 2013, admitted causing damage to a protected Citibank computer. Lennon Ray Brown, was sentenced to 21 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $77,200 in restitution.
Brown knowingly transmitted a code and command to 10 core Citibank Global Control Center routers, and by transmitting that code, erased the running configuration files in nine of the routers, resulting in a loss of connectivity to approximately 90% of all Citibank networks across North America.
More information about this case may be found here.
California Man Found Guilty On Narcotics Trafficking Charges
A California man was found guilty of conspiring to distribute kilogram quantities of heroin. Juan Pablo Arreola was convicted after a four-day jury trial.
Between 2013 and August 2015, Arreola conspired with others to traffic in excess of 40 kilograms of heroin from California to New York. Arreola and other members of the drug trafficking organization shipped heroin via the mail, with the heroin hidden in protein powder containers, and via a long-haul trucking company, with the heroin hidden in copy machines and stereo boxes.
More information about this case may be found here.
Employee Sentenced to Prison for Stealing Identities Used to File False Tax Returns
A Montgomery, Alabama resident was sentenced to 48 months in prison for her role in a stolen identity refund fraud scheme. Wendy Huff, admitted that between January 2013 and August 2015, she worked at two loan companies in Montgomery, Alabama, and had access to the personal identifying information of customers.
Huff pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. In addition to the prison term, Huff was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered her to pay $102,322 in restitution.
More information about this case may be found here.
About the United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service was originally founded in 1865 for the purpose of suppressing the counterfeiting of U.S. currency. Now an agency within the Department of Homeland Security, the Secret Service is widely known for its protective mission in safeguarding the nation’s highest elected officials, visiting foreign heads of state and events of national significance. Today, the Secret Service maintains a unique dual mission of protection and
investigations, as one of the premier law enforcement organizations charged with investigating cyber and financial crimes.