Hampton man pleads guilty to bilking $700K in identity theft scheme: How it was done
HAMPTON — A local man pleaded guilty Monday to stealing nearly $700,000 in two schemes — one where he stole the identity of 12 victims to obtain credit cards and another filing fake unemployment claims in two states.
Anthony Silva, 37, of Hampton, pleaded guilty in federal court to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and mail fraud as part of a negotiated plea deal with prosecutors. As part of the deal, he faces 60 months in prison and must pay $699,496.14 in restitution.
Prosecutors alleged Silva stole the personal identifying information of his victims — including their names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth — to apply for 15 different credit cards from American Express in 2021. As part of the scheme, Silva sometimes submitted fake driver's licenses with the victim's name and other identifying information, but with his own photograph. He used the credit cards to make $59,684.14 in purchases at Walmart, Victoria's Secret and Home Depot, where he was recorded on store security footage making some of the purchases, according to prosecutors.
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Also collected fraudulent unemployment insurance payments
Prosecutors said Silva also submitted unemployment insurance applications starting in March 2020 to Vermont and Massachusetts using the identities of many individuals. The unemployment insurance payments, which were enhanced due to the COVID-19 pandemic, were mailed to addresses he controlled or had access to.
According to court documents, he deposited those checks into one of 32 different trust accounts he opened at Citizens Bank, which were in the names of purported charitable causes. The names of the trusts included Peaceful Protesters Bail Fund Trust, Trans Diversity Alliance Trust, Resist Trumpism Trust and BLM New England Trust, according to court documents.
Silva received $188,023 from the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance and $451,779 from the Vermont Department of Labor in fraudulent payments, according to court documents.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General, and Secret Service. It is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander S. Chen and Assistant U.S. Attorney John Kennedy.
Silva is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 13, 2023.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Hampton man pleads guilty to bilking $700,000 in identity theft scheme
