Richard Adebay and Amos Peter Agbajaife could each face more than 30 years in prison if convicted
Two Essex County men were indicted Tuesday on federal charges related to a $350,000 credit card scheme, according to authorities. (Star-Ledger file photo) NEWARK - Two Essex County men were indicted Tuesday on charges they used fraudulently obtained credit cards to finance more than $350,000 in shopping sprees.
Richard Adebayo, 38, of East Orange, and Amos Peter Agbajaife, 37, of Newark, are each charged with eight counts of wire fraud and single counts of aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said in a statement.
According to the indictment returned by a federal grand jury, the scheme began in March 2014, when the duo was able to obtain personal information, including birth dates, passwords and Social Security numbers for various credit card holders.
Using the information, they were able to have replacement cards mailed to an address in Newark, which they used to buy thousands of dollars in "high-value" goods from retail stores around North Jersey, Fishman said.
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During one such spree on March 22, 2014, they ran up a total of $21,464 at a single store in Bergen County, according to the indictment returned Tuesday.
Before authorities stopped the scheme in April 2014, more than 70 credit card holders had been defrauded, Fishman said.
Adebayo and Agbajaife were originally charged five months later, though Agbajaife remains at large.
Each count of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud against the men is punishable by up to 30 years in prison and $1 million in fines. A conviction on aggravated identify theft carries a mandatory minimum of two years behind bars, which must run consecutively with any other sentence.
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