MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR CREDIT CARD FRAUD RING OPERATING NATIONWIDE THROUGH STOREFRONT LEATHER CLOTHING SHOPS SMASHED: NINE ARRESTED

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, joined by Lee R. Heath, Inspector in Charge of the New York Division of the United States Postal Inspection Service, and Chip Smith, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Regional Office of the United States Secret Service, today announced the arrest and indictment of the leader and several members of a nationwide ring that bilked merchant banks in 10 states of millions of dollars through a string of storefront leather clothing shops in California, Florida and the metropolitan area, including 12 in Queens, Broojclyn and Nassau Counties.

District Attorney Brown said, "Today's indictments are the culmination of a year-long joint investigation, dubbed 'Operation Black Leather,' into the activities of a highly organized group of conspirators who stole millions of dollars from merchant banks in New York, South Dakota, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Illinois, Montana, Michigan, Ohio and Maine. The scheme, allegedly organized and executed by the defendant Ramesh Sethuraman, a self-styled economic terrorist and his Northeast managers, Shebi Isaac and Rajinder Kumar Mattu, involved the opening of a series of storefront retail shops that ostensibly sold leather coats and jackets, but were used as mere 'fronts' in order to ring up non-existent sales on credit card accounts. The credit card account numbers were allegedly stolen by members of the ring employed at gas stations and other legitimate businesses. In this way, it is alleged, the defendants obtained large amounts of cash from the merchant banks where they had opened accounts to process the phony credit card receipts."

District Attorney Brown said that "it is alleged that in Queens County alone the defendants stole $1.2 million from Fleet Bank and Citibank in a two-year period."

District Attorney Brown said that the joint investigation began last Summer when officials of VISA received complaints from legitimate cardholders whose accounts reflected purchases they had not made as well as complaints from merchant banks who were owed money by the defendants.

According to the indictment, the conspiracy operated in the following manner: The defendants Rajinder Kumar Mattu, 22, of 133 Beech St., Yonkers, and Shebi Issac, 30, of 215 w. 28th St., Manhattan, and others acting at the behest of the defendant Ramesh Sethuraman, would rent a storefront and stock it with a minimal amount of leather coats and jackets and other clothing. They would then complete applications for so-called merchant processor accounts at local merchant banks which would enable the store to receive payment for merchandise purchased by credit card. They also would open commercial checking accounts. According to the indictment, these accounts were opened by Mattu, Shaji Markose and others using false identification stolen from legitimate small businessmen including two Connecticut physicians. Co-conspirators Rahul Masih and Rajiv Thomas and others stole and provided credit card account numbers of legitimate individuals to the ring so that unauthorized charges could be made on those accounts. The merchant banks would accept the credit card receipts and pay out on them, depositing the money in the storefront's checking account and later seek reimbursement from the credit card issuer. However, according to the indictment, as soon as the merchant bank put the money into the phony business' account, the defendants withdrew it and disappeared.

District Attorney Brown characterized the scheme as a "classic 'bust out' repeated over and over in a dozen locations in the metropolitan area alone. In two months time, for example, a store named Supra, formerly located at 22-77 Steinway Street in Astoria and operated by the defendants, is alleged to have bilked one of the merchant banks of $150,000."

The District Attorney also said, "Over the last several years, together with the United States Postal Inspection Service and the United States Secret Service, we have conducted a series of investigations into massive credit card fraud and so-called identity fraud in which thieves actually takeover a person's credit identity. These kinds of frauds result in huge losses -- estimated at almost $3 billion each year worldwide -- to the banking and credit card industries as well as to the consumer whose identity has been taken over and whose credit worthiness has been destroyed. Today's case is a variation of the same kind of fraud legitimate cardholders numbers have been stolen and legitimate small business people's names and reputations have been used and besmirched for the defendants illegal gains."

The defendant Ramesh Sethuraman, who is also known as Ram Kumar, and six others were arrested last week by detectives assigned to the New York City Police Department's Queens District Attorney's Squad, the District Attorney's Detective Bureau and agents of the United States Postal Inspection Service and the United States Secret Service. Two defendants, Mattu and Markose, were arrested this morning and will be arraigned before Acting Supreme Court Justice John B. Latella, Jr., later today.

The defendants Sethuraman and Mattu are charged with grand larceny in the first degree, scheme to defraud, criminal possessidn of forged instruments and conspiracy. They face up to 25 years in prison if convicted. The other defendants are charged with conspiracy, scheme to defraud and grand larceny in the second or third degrees, among other crimes. They face up to seven years in prison if convicted.

The names and former addresses of the stores in the metropolitan area operated by the defendants during the course of the conspiracy are as follows:

STAR - 77-53 Vleigh Place, Flushing

SUPRA - 22-77 Steinway Street, Astoria

MALIBU - 378 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn

SELLINI - 63 Withers Street, Brooklyn

BELLDINI - 409 Washington Street, Brooklyn

FASHION CITY - 218A East Meadow Avenue, East Meadow

LA MODE - 167B Atlantic Avenue, Lynbrook, NY

VITTORIO - 167A Atlantic Avenue, Lynbrook, NY

S & S STAT - 111-07 Jamaica Avenue, Richmond Hill

EURO DESIGNS - 45-10 Glenwood Street, Little Neck

ORKAY - 29-37 Jordan Street, Bayside

INTERA - 222 Merrick Road, Lynbrook, NY

PALAZZI - Myrtle Avenue, Glendale

District Attorney Brown expressed his appreciation to those involved in the investigation, including Dets. Joseph Fezza, Moses Gonzalez and Sonia Rivera and Sgt. Joshua Genn of the New York City Police Department's Queens District Attorney's Squad under the command of Capt. Harold J. Knorr and Lt. Kenneth Rosello, United States Postal Inspector Michael Pena under the supervision of Supervisory Inspector Leonard Kennedy and the Inspector in Charge of the New York Division, Lee R. Heath, and United States Secret Service Special Agent Roberta Kane under the supervision of Special Agent in Charge, Chip Smith and ASAC Stephen lannucci, as well as representatives of the credit card and banking industries who assisted in the investigation, including representatives of VISA, Master Card, Discover, First Data Resources, Citibank, Chase Manhattan Bank, Bank of New York, Fleet Bank, Marine Midland Bank, Household Credit Services and PNC Bank.

Assistant District Attorney Diane M. Peress and Accountant Investigator James Dever of District Attorney Brown's Economic Crimes Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Michael J. Mansfield, Bureau Chief, and Assistant District Attorney John R. Mechmann, Deputy Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Investigations Robert D. Alexander, are assigned to the case.

It is to be noted that an indictment is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Defendants charged:

Ramesh Sethuraman aka Ram Kumar, 419 Broad Street, Bloomfield, NJ Age: 29

Rajinder Kumar Mattu, 133 Beech Street, Yonkers, NY Age: 22

Shebi Issac, 215 W. 28th Street, New York, NY Age: 30

Tabish Habib, 125 Elliot Avenue, Yonkers, NY Age: 25

Shakil Choudhry, 504 West 111th Street, New York, NY Age: 21

Rajiv Thomas, 1303 Neperhan Avenue, Yonkers, NY Age: 21

Rahul Masih, 80 Riverdale Avenue, Yonkers, NY Age: 23

Shaji Markose, 764 Van Nest Avenue, Bronx, NY Age: 22

Sudesh Bhagirathy, 18 South 12th Avenue, Mt. Vernon, NY Age: 25

Mani Lnu aka Ravi Kumar - Fugitive, Flushing, Queens