Credit Card Fraud and Identity Theft of Maine Bank Customers Leads to 3½ Years for Florida Man

A 28-year-old from Miami, Florida, was sentenced Wednesday to 3½ years in prison and three years of supervised release for credit card fraud and aggravated identity theft. 

Ariel Perez-Calvo was also ordered to pay over $35,000 in restitution to the victims of his crime.

Court records show that in January 2016, Perez-Calvo and Roberto Lueje-Rodriguez used debit and credit card account numbers belonging to Maine bank customers located in Penobscot, Knox, Hancock, Piscataquis, Franklin, Somerset, Kennebec, and Androscoggin counties, to make unauthorized purchases totaling more than $48,000.

The defendant engaged in similar conduct in Manchester and Concord, New Hampshire in November 2015 when he used debit and credit card account numbers belonging to New Hampshire bank customers to make unauthorized purchases totaling more than $1,000.

The name embossed on each fake card was “David Cuan,” which was not the name of any of the victims.  Each fake card bore a unique account number and appeared to be an authentic debit or credit card, but their magnetic strips were encoded with the true account numbers of the victims.

At sentencing, Judge Woodcock noted: “The crimes you engaged in are insidious and destructive.  First you steal private information and then you steal money.”

On July 8, 2016, Lueje-Rodriquez pleaded guilty to access device fraud and aggravated identity theft charges arising out of the same conduct and awaits sentencing.

The investigation was conducted by the Maine State Police; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations; and the Bangor, Brewer, Dexter, Dover-Foxcroft, Ellsworth, Hampden, Lincoln, Millinocket, Newport, Pittsfield, Rockland, Saco, Waterville (Maine) and Londonderry (New Hampshire) Police Departments.