Shadowcrew Sentenced.(investigations of credit card fraud)

Six members of the so-called "Shadowcrew" have pleaded guilty to operating an informal--and international--gang of credit card thieves (see Electronic Payments Week, Nov. 9, 2004). This brings to 12 the number of guilty pleas in the case, probably the largest of its type to date. Federal authorities say that at least 1.5 million credit and bank cards with credit limits as high as $25,000 were stolen. The $4 million number generally cited as the amount lost to the scheme is generally considered to be a minimum amount; some estimates run as high as $200 million.

The six--Andrew Mantovani, 23, of Scottsdale, Ariz.; Kim Taylor, 47, of Arcadia, Calif.; Jeremy Stephens, 31, of Charlotte, N.C.; Brandon Monchamp, 22, of Scottsdale, Ariz.; Omar Dhanani, 22, of Fountain Valley, Calif.; and Jeremy Zielinski, 22, of Longwood, Fla.--pleaded guilty to conspiracy. Mantovani, who confessed in court to being the ringleader and co-founder, also pleaded guilty to a second count of unlawful transfer of identification to facilitate criminal conduct, a charged related to his admitted role in stealing about 18 million e- mail accounts, each with personal identification information. Sentencing will be in late February or early March of next year.

Each charge carries maximum prison sentences of five years and a maximum fine of $250,000. Two other co-conspirators--Wesley Lanning, 22, of Grove City, Ohio; and Rogerio Rodrigues, 22, of Chicago, have already pleaded guilty, along with four other unnamed individuals.

According to court papers, Mantovani admitted using phishing and spamming to steal credit and bank card information, after which he ...