Aug
29
Defendant in U.S. identity theft case pleads guilty
Albert Gonzalez was accused of helping steal millions of credit card numbers and debit cards of major retail chains, with tens of millions of dollars in fraudulent transactions.
Gonzalez was an informant Government before being imprisoned long ago, and agreed to plead guilty to 19 charges in Massachusetts the next September 11. The settlement resolves charges pending in federal court in New York.
But Gonzalez also faces charges in federal court in New Jersey for a similar crime. That case is not affected by the declaration of Boston, a spokesman for the U.S. District Court in New Jersey.
A year ago, Gonzalez and another 10 people from five countries were accused of steal 41 million card numbers from retailers TJX Cos., BJ #39; s Wholesale Club Inc., OfficeMax Inc., Boston Market, Barnes Noble Inc., Sports Authority, Forever 21 and DSW Inc.
At that time, on August 17, Gonzalez was indicted again in U.S. District Court in New Jersey for stealing more than 130 million card numbers from credit card processor Heartland Payment Systems and retailers 7-Eleven Inc. and Hannaford Brothers Co.
The defendant's lawyer, Rene Palomino, did not immediately return calls for comment.
When Gonzalez was indicted for first time the authorities noted that handled by Miami with a laptop looking for wireless networks that breach through retail stores. Just find an open network, collected and sold account numbers, which were used to perform fraudulent transactions of tens of millions of dollars.
Albert Gonzalez was the head of the chain stolen credit card numbers and with him away from the streets, people can have a big sigh of relief, said Richard Smith, a director of Boston Software Forensics, which conducts safety audits.
This does not mean the problem is eliminated. There are plenty of other people doing this in a less sophisticated form that is still very dangerous, he said.
retailer Officials TJX discounts Barnes and Noble declined to comment for the moment.
The deal marks case under U.S. accusations against Alberto Gonzalez inthe U.S. District Court in Massachusetts.
(Reporting by Scott Malone, Ross Kerber, Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Toni Clarke in Boston, additional reporting by Edith Honan in New York, published in Spanish by Jon Boyle)
(Writing Boston 1 617-856-4342; Reuters Messaging: scott.malone.reuters.com @ reuters.net; Spanish edition Table 562 4374447))
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