Carmel man sentenced after stealing $2 million in identity theft scheme
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A Carmel man was sentenced to over eight years in prison after he was found guilty of running a seven-year-long identity theft scheme and stealing over $2 million.
Tuong Quoc Ho, also known as Robert Parker, 36, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison for the scheme.
A release from the United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of Indiana sent Wednesday says from 2013 to February 2020, Ho led an international scheme to defraud several people around the world of nearly $2 million.
To do this, Ho, along with a team of co-conspirators, stole the “names, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers, social security numbers, and credit card numbers of hundreds of victims throughout the United States and worldwide.”
The group then placed several expensive items, like “Vera Bradley handbags, American Girl dolls, PlayStations, and blood pressure monitors,” for sale on eBay. Ho didn’t have the majority of the items, but when they sold, would purchase them directly from retailers using stolen credit cards and send them to the buyer.
Ho also connected his bank information to over 500 fake PayPal accounts created with the stolen IDs, and when PayPal would report the fraudulent activity, he would modify the stolen information to create fake driver’s licenses, passports, utility bills, etc., to regain access to the accounts.
Overall, “Ho stole over $2 million and wired $1.2 million to family and (others) in Vietnam. Ho also laundered the money, using over $300,000 to purchase his home in Carmel.”
In October 2018, Carmel police searched his home and other buildings he owned. They found over 400 packages addressed to Ho’s alias, Parker, and determined that $78,000 worth of the packages was bought with the stolen cards.
Ho continued his scheme after the search until he was arrested by federal authorities in 2020.
He pleaded guilty to 20 counts of wire fraud, two counts of aggravated identity theft, possessing multiple “unauthorized access devices,” unlawful identification possession, and two counts of money laundering.
Following his release from prison, a federal judge ordered Ho to three years probation. He was also ordered to pay $217,147.87 in restitution.
