Harold Sobel was a member of an international criminal enterprise that unlawfully debited money from the bank accounts of U.S. victims. | 4711018/Pixabay
Harold Sobel was a member of an international criminal enterprise that unlawfully debited money from the bank accounts of U.S. victims. | 4711018/Pixabay
A 69-year-old U.S. citizen who previously lived in Ukraine was sentenced to 42 months in prison.
Harold Sobel also received five years of supervised release for his participation in an international criminal enterprise, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice. Sobel committed bank fraud by stealing money from the accounts of "unknowing U.S. victims," court documents noted.
"The department will vigorously pursue and prosecute individuals who steal from American consumers' bank accounts and deceive U.S. banks to conceal and continue their schemes," Brian Boynton, principal assistant attorney general and head of the Justice Department's Civil Division, said in the news release. "Today's sentence demonstrates our commitment to bringing fraudsters to justice, even when they commit their crimes from foreign countries."
Sobel and his cohorts created shell companies and fake websites that promoted services such as cloud storage in order to dupe victims out of money, the news release noted.
"The Justice Department and our law enforcement partners will investigate and prosecute offenders who defraud Americans and U.S. financial institutions," Jason Frierson, U.S. attorney for the district of Nevada, said in the news release. "Our office will diligently work with the department's Consumer Protection Branch and law enforcement to use every tool at our disposal to hold fraudsters accountable regardless of where they reside and to bring justice for victims."
Members of the criminal organization executed unauthorized debits against victims' bank accounts, according to the news release.
"Global criminal enterprises that span multi-continent distances and operate from beyond our borders might feel they are safe from the reach of U.S. postal inspectors," Eric Shen, postal Inspector in charge of criminal investigations, said in the news release. "But, they are wrong. Scammers who defraud American citizens and banks are in our sights. Working with our partners in the Department of Justice, we will track them down and bring them to justice."
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