Tucson Region

Global Web fraud case has 17 local indictments

Seventeen Tucson-area residents were indicted on charges of using stolen credit and debit card numbers and other personal information to steal money from ATMs as part of an international computer-based theft ring. The group used card numbers and other financial information supplied by people in foreign countries to make counterfeit bank or credit cards and then wired back half the stolen money as payment, officials said in announcing the federal indictments unsealed Monday. The local residents, most of them younger than 25, had more than 4,500 illegally obtained credit and debit card numbers and personal-identification numbers, said Michael Moskaitis, an agent and spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service. The suspects were also in possession of other personal information, such as Social Security numbers, addresses, passwords and other data needed to make the fake cards, Moskaitis said. The group wired more than $300,000 to sources who provided Robbin Shea Brown, Jacob Vincent Green-Bressler, David Lee Merrill and Corrine Dazette Perez and others with the stolen card numbers, according to the indictments. In all, 12 suspects were arrested, mostly over the past weekend, and five are still at large as a result of the Secret Service investigation, said Paul Charlton, U.S. attorney for Arizona. The Secret Service was helped in its investigation by the U.S. Marshals Service, Tucson police and the Pima County Sheriff's Department. "Instantaneous access on the Internet means criminal enterprises are taking place," said Moskaitis about computer-based crimes. Computer hackers outside the United States used techniques called "phishing and pharming" to lure victims through e-mails or direct computer users to what looked like authentic Web sites for financial institutions, the indictments state. The fake Web sites were used to obtain customers' personal information, Moskaitis said. The Tucson residents, who are facing numerous conspiracy, fraud, identity theft and money laundering charges, were recruited using Internet chat rooms by people in 19 countries such as Australia, Serbia and Montenegro, Mexico, Canada and Russia, said Harriet Bernick, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona. The thefts began in mid-2003, but investigators were tipped off when the suspects wire-transferred more than $300,000 to the information suppliers. It's believed the local group stole more than $600,000, officials said. The local suspects primarily lived in two houses on the East Side - in the 9200 block of East Desert Cove Circle and the 10000 block of East Via Rinconado. They made counterfeit credit and bank cards using blank cards and encoding the magnetic strips on the back with the stolen information. Using the fake cards, large sums of cash were withdrawn primarily from four Tucson banks, two M&I Bank branches, DM Federal Credit Union and a Bank One branch, officials said. Two of the people whose indictments were announced Monday had been arrested by Tucson police earlier this year. Brown, 24, and Joshua T. Breshears, 20, were charged with credit card theft and fraudulent schemes in April. During the investigation in April, police found computers, devices that imprint information on the magnetic strips on credit or debit cards and a stock of blank cards. Police spokesmen said during April's arrests that the men were making fake ATM cards to steal money to finance their expensive tastes and drug habits. Victims from around the world may not know they have been the target of fraud, but banks are reimbursing their accounts, Moskaitis said. At this time, it's impossible to know if any of the victims are from the Tucson area, Bernick said. Fraud arrests ● Seventeen Tucson-area residents were indicted on numerous charges including fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit money laundering: ● Robbin Shea Brown, 24 ● Jacob Vincent Green-Bressler, 19 ● Joshua Trever Lee Breshears, 20 ● David Lee Merrill, 25 ● Corrine Dazette Perez, 24 ● Richard Daniel Staton, 24 ● Rollin Edward Vaughn II, 23. ● Randi Michelle Rodela, 20 ● Joseph David Wallum, 20 ● James Dennis Olsen, 19 ● Steven Don Olsen, 23 ● Robin Duane Brown, 52. ● These five suspects remained at large as of Monday: Joseph Robert Jando, 21

Martin Corey Halula, 19

Christopher James Griffin, 23

Daniel Roy Leon Mendez, 20

Ana Marie Honeycutt, 32