LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Two Las Vegans were among 14 people named in a federal indictment on Wednesday in Los Angeles in a “years-long scheme” to steal millions of dollars from bank accounts.
Linden Fellerman, 67, and Debra Vogel, 68, were on a list of names described as members and associates of a racketeering enterprise that illegally debited money from the bank accounts of unknowing U.S. consumers.
Another Las Vegan, Harold Sobel, was previously convicted for his role in what officials describe as a transnational network of fraudsters. Sobel, who lived in the Ukraine before he was prosecuted, was sentenced in December to 42 months in prison and five years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
The complete list of people indicted on Wednesday:
- Edward Courdy, 73, of Hawaiian Gardens, California
- Linden Fellerman, 67, of Las Vegas
- Guy Benoit, 68, of Cyprus, California
- Steven Kennedy, 54, of Canada
- Sayyid Quadri, of Canada
- Ahmad Shoaib, 63, of Canada
- John Beebe, 52, of Honolulu
- Michael Young, 41, of Hollywood, Florida
- Lance Johnson, 52, of Laveen, Arizona
- Jenny Sullivan, 46, of Denver
- Veronica Crosswell, 35, of Long Beach, California
- Eric Bauer, 65, of Huntington Beach, California
- Randy Grabeel, 71, of Pittsburg, California
- Debra Vogel, 68, of Las Vegas
Courdy, Fellerman, Benoit, Kennedy, Quadri, Shoaib, Beebe, Young, Johnson, Sullivan, Crosswell, and Bauer are charged with racketeering conspiracy and wire fraud. Grabeel and Vogel are charged with racketeering conspiracy. Some defendants made their initial court appearances on Tuesday.
If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for racketeering conspiracy and, if applicable, 30 years in prison for each count of wire fraud.
The U.S. Justice Department said personal identifying information and banking information was stolen when the victims dealt with shell companies that claimed to offer products or services such as cloud storage.
Money was then stolen from their bank accounts.
“Some of the unauthorized debits resulted in returned transactions, which generated high return rates. To both conceal and continue conducting unauthorized debits, the enterprise’s shell entities also generated ‘micro debits’ against other bank accounts controlled and funded by or for the enterprise. The micro debits artificially lowered shell entities’ return rates to levels that conspirators believed would reduce bank scrutiny and lessen potential negative impact on the enterprise’s banking relations,” according to a Department of Justice news release.
Settlements totaling nearly $5 million were obtained against Sobel and nearly 30 others in a civil case in Los Angeles that was related to Wednesday’s indictments.
