A Canadian man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court in Las Vegas to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a scheme to steal millions of dollars from thousands of victims in the United States.
According to court documents, Poupak Jannissar, 52, of Quebec, Canada, operated and controlled sham companies that used fake checks and other fraudulent debits to steal from victims’ accounts at banks in the United States. The defendant and his co-conspirators used various names for the sham companies, including Computer Run, EBooks, Joreeb, Memo Storage, Our Online Backup, You Can Fax Too and Your E-Library. These companies pretended to sell various internet-based services for consumers such as cloud storage, internet faxing and online books. However, the sham companies did not actually provide any real products or services. Instead, they served to conceal the theft of money from bank accounts by Jannissar and his co-conspirators.
Jannissar and his co-conspirators bought lists containing misappropriated personal information belonging to thousands of potential victims. They then falsely represented to banks and others that individual victims had authorized debits from their bank accounts. If the individual victims did not notice and dispute initial charges made by the sham companies, these entities would fraudulently debit bank accounts multiple times. The stolen money was transferred to accounts in Canada.
Jannissar pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of money laundering before U.S. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.
Jannissar was arrested on January 22 at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport in Florida based on a criminal complaint and arrest warrant issued in the District of Nevada by U.S. Magistrate Judge Brenda Weksler. He was subsequently indicted on the charges he pled guilty to yesterday.
“Through various sham entities, the defendant and his accomplices stole consumers’ hard-earned money directly from their bank accounts,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Justice Department will use all of the tools at its disposal to apprehend and prosecute criminals whether located inside or outside the United States who steal from Americans.”
“Today’s guilty plea demonstrates our commitment to finding and prosecuting individuals who steal from consumers,” said U.S. Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada. “Defrauding consumers and stealing their hard-earned dollars is a crime against individuals but it also violates trust in free commerce."
“Mr. Jannisar and his co-conspirators used sham companies to steal from unknowing victims by accessing their bank accounts using personal identifiable information from illegally obtained lists,” said Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of U.S Postal Inspection Service Criminal Investigations (USPIS-CI). “His actions represent a crime of greed but will not go unpunished thanks to law enforcement.”
"The defendant's guilty plea holds him accountable for perpetrating a fraudulent scheme that stole funds from thousands," said Special Agent in Charge Vincent R Zehme of Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office Inspector General (FDIC OIG) Chicago Regional Office.
Jannissar faces a maximum penalty of 20 years per charge with sentencing determined after considering U.S Sentencing Guidelines.
USPIS-CI FDIC OIG are investigating this case with assistance provided by U.S Customs Border Protection Senior Trial Attorney Daniel Zytnick Civil Division Consumer Protection Branch Assistant US Attorney Richard Anthony Lopez prosecuting
For more information about Consumer Protection Branch visit www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch Consumer complaints can be filed FTC www.reportfraud.ftc.gov or 877-FTC-HELP Justice Department provides resources relating fraud victimization through Office Victims Crime www.ovc.gov