Californian man
pleads guilty to
identity fraud
connected to Russian interference in presidential election
pleads guilty to
identity fraud
connected to Russian interference in presidential election
CNN
11 hours ago
California man
pleads guilty to
identity fraud
connected to Russian interference in presidential election
pleads guilty to
identity fraud
connected to Russian interference in presidential election
fox13now.com
12 hours ago
Calif. man pleads
guilty to identity
fraud in Mueller
probe
guilty to identity
fraud in Mueller
probe
The Hill
14 hours ago
Californian man pleads guilty to identity fraud connected to Russian ...
https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/16/politics/richard-pinedo-guilty-plea/index.html
Californian man pleads guilty to identity fraud connected to Russian interference in presidential election
(CNN)A
California man pleaded guilty to identity fraud in a second case
unsealed Friday by special counsel Robert Mueller in his investigation
into Russian interference in the US presidential election.
The
guilty plea results in the first criminal conviction related to
Mueller's investigation into the Russian-backed ring of social media
users aiming to interfere with the 2016 presidential election,
prosecutors told a federal judge this month, according to unsealed court
filing.
Richard Pinedo's guilty plea was unsealed by the federal court in DC on Friday, minutes after the Justice Department announced charges against 13 Russian nationals.
Pinedo's attorney said Friday his client was not aware of the identity or motivations of those buying the accounts.
Pinedo
ran a scheme that helped his customers use dummy bank accounts to
bypass the security of online companies like PayPal, which can be used
to transfer money and pay for online services.
The
Russians had opened accounts on PayPal using stolen identities of
people in the US, prosecutors said. The related indictment of the
Russians listed 14 bank accounts they used.
Pinedo's
service, called Auction Essistance, helped users circumvent the online
security feature that tests whether a person's identity is real, by
depositing and withdrawing small amounts from a bank account then asking
the person to identify the amounts in the deposits. The separate
indictment of 13 Russians described how they illegally obtained bank
account numbers to evade PayPal's security measures.
Pinedo's
business, Auction Essistance, appears to have gone dark on the internet
as of Friday, despite previously having Facebook and Twitter pages and a
sizable amount of public customer reviews. But cached versions of the business' homepage and a promotional Medium post from 2015 show a business pitching itself as a trusted aid to webcrawlers who'd like privacy online.
The
homepage touts "quick turnaround," "competitive rates" and "trusted and
secured" services. For about $35, customers who've been banned from
sites like PayPal, eBay and Amazon could buy verified accounts through
Auction Essistance.
"We guarantee
our accounts are legitimate and not hacked or stolen like most other
sellers offer," the site's homepage said. The site advises its
international customers to use a US-based IP address with a fake
account.
In several reviews posted on the homepage, customers refer to Pinedo as "Ricky."
Pinedo
sold bank accounts registered under his own name and registered under
stolen identities to many people outside the US, the prosecutors said.
Pinedo made more than $1,000 in a year from the scheme, and earned tens
of thousands of dollars in total, the statement said.
Though
he didn't register bank accounts using stolen identities, "he willfully
and intentionally avoided learning about the use of stolen identities,"
the prosecutors said.
Pinedo agreed to cooperate with the special prosecutors' office in exchange for his guilty plea on February 12.
In
a statement to the press on Friday, Pinedo's attorney admitted Pinedo's
guilt in the fraudulent online banking scheme, but said he did not know
he was helping Russians.
"Through
an online website, Mr. Pinedo sold bank information which allowed
individuals to fraudulently verify and establish accounts with online
financial institutions. Doing so was a mistake, and Mr. Pinedo has
accepted full responsibility for his actions," the statement said.
"However, Mr. Pinedo had absolutely no knowledge of the identities and
motivations of any of the purchasers of the information he provided. To
the extent that Mr. Pinedo's actions assisted any individuals, including
foreign nationals, from interfering in the American presidential
election was done completely without his knowledge or understanding."
The attorney, Jeremy Lessem, declined to comment further, "given the ongoing nature of this investigation."
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