14 DAY TRIAL // A total of eight individuals have been charged in Florida for running an identity theft fraud scheme involving the identity information of AT&T customers.
The list of suspects includes Chouman Emily Syrilien, 25, Arrington Basil Segu, 28, Carlos Antonio Alexander, 24, Angel Arcos, 23, Shantegra La’Shae Godfrey, 23, and Monique Smith, 31.
They’ve all been charged with one count of conspiracy. Several of them have also been charged with access device fraud and aggravated identity theft.
According to authorities, Syrilien was employed by a company that provides staffing for call centers to handle direct sales and customer inquiries for telecoms company AT&T. She retrieved AT&T customer information and provided it to a co-conspirator. Segu also provided the co-conspirator with personally identifying information.
Smith, Alexander and Godfrey were added as “authorized users” to the payment card and bank accounts of the victims. Once they were added, they asked the bank to send them additional debit or credit cards, which they later used to withdraw money or make unauthorized purchases.
Arcos is said to have provided his personal information for opening a bank account used in the fraud operation.
If convicted, the defendants face up to 30 years in prison for the conspiracy charge, up to 10 years for the access device fraud charge, and two years for each identity theft charge. Two of the suspects are still at large.