Two Brazilian nationals — one residing in Lowell, Massachusetts and another in Daly City, California — pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with a nationwide plot to open fraudulent driver accounts with rideshare and delivery service companies.
Edvaldo Rocha Cabral, 41, of Lowell and Julio Vieira Braga, 25, of Daly City, along with 17 co-defendants, also Brazilian nationals, allegedly created fraudulent driver accounts for rent or sale to people who might not otherwise be qualified to drive for ride-hailing or delivery firms, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The defendants also allegedly used bots and GPS spoofing technology to swindle referral bonuses from the companies in order to boost income earned.
Names, birthdates, driver’s license information, and/or Social Security numbers were obtained by the defendants from co-conspirators and other sources, including sites on the Dark Net, the DOJ said.
In order to get around facial recognition technology used by firms as a security measure, the defendants are accused of sometimes editing the images of the stolen documents to reflect the photos of the drivers renting or buying the accounts.
“The defendants and co-conspirators also obtained driver’s license images directly from victims, by photographing victims’ licenses while completing an alcohol delivery through one of the services or while exchanging information with victims following vehicle accidents, some of which defendants or co-conspirators intentionally caused in order to obtain license information,” according to the statement.
As a result of the plot, Internal Revenue Service Forms 1099 were generated in victims’ identities for income that conspirators earned from the rideshare and delivery companies.
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Rocha Cabra and Vieira Braga are both scheduled for sentencing on June 15.
Of the co-defendants, 14 have been arrested in connection with the crime and three remain at large. Of the co-defendants, at least eight are from Massachusetts, two from California, and two from Florida.
Conspiracy to commit wire fraud could result in a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of 250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greater.
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