Written by Susan
On April 29, 2021, Abed Ahmad and his brother Alaa Ahmad pleaded guilty in Federal District Court in Brooklyn, New York before Judge Eric N. Vitaliano for bank fraud conspiracy and conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft scheme to defraud JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its clients. In addition to those charges, Abed Ahmad pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Acting United States Attorney, Mark J. Lesko, was one of a few who provided a statement about the guilty pleas later that day. He emphasized the defendants’ fallacious actions. According to Lesko, the defendants violated their positions of authority at JP Morgan Chase to promote their plot to defraud the identities of elderly and deceased clients in order to reallocate millions of dollars from their accounts. Lesko expressed his gratitude to the New York City Police Department’s Intelligence Bureau, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General and the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General for their assistance with the investigation.
Peter C. Fitzhugh, a Special Agent-in-Charge for Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), explained how this $7 million fraud operation was carried out by JP Morgan Chase employees who utilized their access to classified data to victimize the bank and its clients.
According to court filings and April’s proceedings, between roughly 2012 and 2017, Abed Ahmad and Alaa Ahmad who worked at JPMorgan Chase & Co. branches in Queens used their positions at the bank to target highly valuable customer accounts of elderly or deceased individuals that had been inactive for an extended period.
Once discovering the accounts, Abed Ahmad and Alaa Ahmad transmitted the account information, as well as the account holders’ personal identifying information, to another co-conspirator, Moustafa Ayoub. Moustafa Ayoub utilized the account information to move roughly $7 million of the victim’s cash from JPMorgan Chase accounts to other accounts he controlled by Ayoub.
The National Security and Cybercrime Section of the Office is handling the government’s case, with support from the New York County District Attorney’s Office. The prosecution is led by Assistant United States Attorneys Josh Hafetz, Jonathan E. Algor and Special Assistant United States Attorney Beth F. Potashnick.
Moustafa Ayoub previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to engage in money laundering, conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and aggravated
