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Two Connecticut residents have been charged with using thousands of stolen identities to cheating on online gambling sitesincluding FanDuel, which is over $3 million.
the fees filed against Glastonbury, Connecticutresidents Amitoj Kapoor (29) and Siddharth Lillaney (29) after their arrest by local law enforcement.
Kapoor and Lillaney face a 45-count federal gambling indictment
Both men appeared before US Magistrate Judge Maria E. Garcia and a federal grand jury in New Haven, ACCORDING to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, and each was released on $300,000 bond.
United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut David X. Sullivan, Thomas Demeo, Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation in New England, and Bryan T. Cafferelli, Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection, released the news as a joint statement.
That read the 45-count indictment returned by the grand jury of “fraud, identity theft, and money laundering offenses arising from a scheme to use stolen identities to defraud FanDuel and other online gambling companies of millions of dollars.”
Conspiracy to defraud gambling giants
the court documents led to a 45-count indictment alleging that the two men used various tools to mine personally identifiable information (PII) from victims in Connecticut.
“Individuals who commit identity theft of this magnitude should be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” said Demeo. “It is alleged that the defendants caused immeasurable hardship to the victims in their identity theft scheme.”
According to court papers, these data theft allegations were used to take advantage of promotional “bonuses,” “credits,” or “bet bonuses” that were offered when a user opened an account or placed an initial bet.
The men reportedly operated two website accounts for BeenVerified.com and TruthFinder.com to “obtain more background information” on prospective victims.
The court alleged that the pair would use fraudulent accounts to withdraw winnings and bonus bets and transfer them to a virtual card.
It is “backed by an FDIC-insured financial institution, which FanDuel allows account holders to use to make deposits and withdrawals from their FanDuel account.”
Data theft and fraud allegations at the heart of the FanDuel Connecticut case
Data theft is a serious crime in the US, and using stolen data to impersonate any individual carries significant custodial jail time. Combined with the allegations that the pair used this data from a “darknet” or illegal market connections through Telegram, explain the severity of the many charges.
These allegations against Kapoor and Lillaney include:
- 23 counts of wire fraud, each carrying a maximum prison term of 20 years
- 10 counts of money laundering, each carrying a maximum prison term of 20 years
- 8 counts of identity fraud, each with a maximum prison term of 15 years
- Conspiracy to commit wire fraud and identity fraud, each carries a maximum prison term of 5 years
- 2 counts of aggravated identity theft, an offense with a mandatory consecutive term of imprisonment of 2 years
- one count of money laundering conspiracy, an offense that carries a maximum prison term of 20 years
Prosecuting parties provided a timeframe for the alleged fraud, with their documents showing that as early as 2021, Kapoor and Lillaney used “PII of approximately 3,000 identity theft victims to open FanDuel and other online gambling accounts, and generated approximately $3 million in revenue during the scheme.”
Assistant US Attorney Michael S. McGarry prosecuted Kapoor and Lillaney, based on information presented by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, and the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection (DCP).
FanDuel is the online gaming operator for Mohegan Sun Casino.
“Fraud, identity theft, and the misuse of personal information have no place in a regulated marketplace. We commend federal and state authorities for their work and decisive action in this case,” said James Gessner Jr., Mohegan Tribal Chairman, in a separate statement. press release.
“We continue to invest in advanced systems, responsible gaming tools, and fraud prevention measures to ensure a safe and secure experience for every player online and in all other areas of our business. Cases like this highlight the critical advantages of regulated iGaming, where strict supervision and close coordination with law enforcement protect consumers more than unregulated alternatives. fraud.”
“Although this began as a game-related investigation, the scope of the alleged identity theft and fraud, with thousands of potential victims across the country, quickly became the primary focus of this investigation,” said DCP Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli.
“Identity theft is a serious crime that can have lasting consequences for victims. We are proud of the work our team did to result in these arrests, and are grateful to the IRS Investigators and US Attorney’s Office for assisting our investigation and prosecution of this case,” added DCP Gaming Director Kris Gilman.
Featured image: “CT – New Haven: United States Post Office and Courthouse” by Wally Gobetz / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
The post Man sued for allegedly using thousands of stolen identities to defraud online gambling sites of $3M first appeared in ReadWrite.
