2 New Jersey men charged with wire fraud

NEWARK, N.J. — Two Essex County men were charged Tuesday for their respective roles in a scheme that allegedly defrauded credit card companies of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The indictment follows an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Richard Adebayo, 38, of East Orange, and Amos Peter Agbajaife, 37, of Newark, were each charged with  conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. They were originally charged by complaint Sept. 16, 2014. Adebayo was arrested in 2014 and Agbajaife remains at large.

According to court documents, from March 2014 to April 2014, Adebayo and Agbajaife fraudulently obtained personal identifying information, including dates of birth, Social Security numbers, and passwords, of credit card holders. They used the information to fraudulently obtain replacement credit cards in the victims’ names and then used the cards to purchase high-value items from retail stores.

Adebayo was carrying a laptop computer when he was arrested. A forensic analysis of the computer allegedly revealed the stolen identities, including names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, addresses, bank account information, and credit card information of at least 70 victims.  Law enforcement confirmed that approximately $350,000 in fraudulent charges was incurred on the credit cards of the victims.

Each count of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud carries a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million. The count of aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory term of two years in prison, which must run consecutively to any term of imprisonment imposed for other counts of the indictment.