June 7, 2000
FLORIDA COUPLE CHARGED WITH OPERATING ORGANIZED U.S. MAIL THEFT RING; THOUSANDS VICTIMIZED; $1.5 MILLION ALLEGEDLY STOLEN
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, joined by officials of the United States Postal Inspection Service, announced today the indictment of a Florida couple on charges of operating a lucrative mail theft and financial fraud ring that victimized thousands of residents of Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties over an 18 month period during 1998 and 1999.
District Attorney Brown said, "The defendants and others working on their behalf are alleged to have targeted thousands of homeowners in affluent and middle class neighborhoods along the Long Island Expressway and the Grand Central, Northern State and Cross Island parkways. They are accused of stealing hundreds of thousands of pieces of mail from mailboxes in neighborhoods like Jamaica Estates, Bayside, Forest Hills, Dix Hills, Roslyn and Woodbury, scavenging through the stolen mail for personal financial data, hoarding the data for future identity takeovers and stealing outright financial instruments such as social security and tax refund checks, blank convenience checks and credit cards and credit card applications. It is alleged that during the 18 month period covered by the indictment over $1.5 million was stolen. The brazenness and high degree of organization exhibited by the defendants was both unusual and alarming."
Assistant Postal Inspector in Charge of the New York Metro Division Michael Garner said, "This case is a classic example of the ingenuity and persistence to which today's "identity thieves" will go to and just how many innocent people are affected. The Postal Inspection Service has seen identity theft crimes escalate, with the number of arrests doubling over the last four years. Over 500 identity theft arrests were effected by our agency in 1999, nationally."
The investigation leading to the defendants' arrests was conducted jointly by United States Postal Inspectors and assistant district attorneys and investigators assigned to District Attorney Brown's Economic Crimes Bureau. The investigation, which began in 1998 as an investigation into credit card fraud, developed in late 1998 into an investigation of widespread mail theft after residents in Queens, Nassau and Suffolk complained to Postal authorities that their mail was not being delivered. The investigation escalated when during the summer of 1998 a large number of garbage bags filled with discarded mail was found in Kissena Park in Flushing.
According to the District Attorney, "At its height the defendants allegedly employed as many as 16 individuals or "runners" who would meet first at the defendants' Kew Gardens Hills home or, later, at their East Elmhurst home where they would be given their daily assignments. Fanning out in pairs along major arteries in Queens, Nassau and Suffolk they would allegedly hit different neighborhoods on different days. The runners allegedly worked Monday to Friday from 10am until 3pm and received between $300 -$600 a day, depending on the value of the mail they stole. Later, it is alleged, everyone would meet back at the defendants' home and sort through the days "catch". Runners were allegedly paid extra for helping fill out credit card applications and for disposing of unwanted mail."
"It is charged", said District Attorney Brown, "that the defendants held themselves out as the owners of Millennium Import/Export Co. and Genesis Communications, Inc., and opened at least 20 accounts at different banks under those and other names, depositing stolen and forged U.S. Treasury, social security, and brokerage account checks and convenience checks with "invoice" numbers added to them. In another variation the defendants would allegedly open bank accounts and obtain credit cards using the names of the legitimate resident. All totaled the indictment alleges that the defendants stole $1.5 million."
District Attorney Brown identified the defendants as Ismael Irizarry, 28, who is also known as Wilson Alemany. He is formerly of 25-20 93rd Street, East Elmhurst and recently Pembroke Pines, Florida. His co-defendant and wife is Luisa Irizarry, 27, who is also known as Nicole Mercado and Ana Agosto, whose last known address is 150 NW, 108th Terrace, Pembroke Pines, Florida. The defendants are charged with multiple counts of grand larceny, possession of forged instruments, falsifying business records and scheme to defraud, among other crimes. They face a maximum penalty of up to 15 years in prison upon conviction.
Ismael Irizarry was arrested at LaGuardia Airport on January 12, 2000 when he returned to New York from Florida where he had fled in December 1999. He is being held without bail. Luisa Irizarry was arrested in Miami, Florida last Friday. District Attorney Brown said that a detainer has been filed with the Dade County, Florida authorities and that extradition proceedings have been commenced.
The investigation was carried out by United States Postal Inspector Peter Ruh under the supervision of Postal Inspection Service Supervisor Leonard Kennedy and the overall supervision of J.J. Skidmore, Inspector in Charge of the United States Postal Inspections Service and Michael Garner, Assistant Inspector in Charge, and Detectives Glen McKechnie and Michael Giacobello under the supervision of Sgt. Raphael Torres and Lt. Al Velardi of the District Attorney's Detective Bureau which is under the command of Chief Edward T. Brady and Deputy Chief Lawrence J. Festa.
Assistant District Attorney Diane M. Peress, Supervisor in the Economic Crimes Bureau which is under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Brian J. Mich and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney Peter A. Crusco, is in charge of the prosecution.
District Attorney Brown acknowledged the cooperation and assistance of investigators and officials of the banking and credit card industries including: Vice Presidents of Chase Manhattan Bank James Heffernan and Boris Maltsev, Regional Investigator of Household Credit Services John Crowe, Regional Investigator of Discover/Novus John McKnight, Regional Investigator of First Card/First USA Dyan Henn, Investigator of First Data Corp. Edward Pepp, Assistant Vice President of MBNA Robert McVeety, Senior Investigator of Fleet Bank Eugene McNulty, American Express Agent Robert Gibbs, Assistant Vice President of First Union Joseph Murphy, Citibank Investigator Hank Picorello and Senior Investigator of Bank of America/Nationsbank Valerie Dunagin.
It should be noted that an indictment is merely an accusation and that a defendant should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.