Police say they have ID fraud ringleader
May have had some 200 victims
Acting on a tip, Boston police arrested a Brighton man Friday night and charged him with numerous counts of identity fraud and counterfeiting for allegedly using stolen credit card information to victimize more than 200 people from Massachusetts to Florida.
Investigators said that Andrew Schwamkoff used the information to buy thousands of dollars worth of electronics and luxury goods by mail and then resold them, possibly over
Police said they seized more than $150,000 in cash and $50,000 worth of merchandise from Schwamkoff's home. Much of the loot was put on display for the news media yesterday at a news conference.
Boston Detective Eric Krause pointed to the evidence before him: phony credit cards and driver's licenses, envelopes with money, high-end digital cameras, laptops, a $580 pair of men's designer boots, and an equally expensive-looking leather jacket.
''This is just what was in the room," he said. ''We don't know how much he's already gotten rid of . . . But we feel we got the ringleader."
Schwamkoff, 28, is also wanted for identity theft in the Atlanta area, where authorities say they know him by another name, Sharaka Oleksiy. Boston police learned of his alleged crimes in Georgia after matching Schwamkoff's fingerprints to a set on file in an FBI database. Police said he also has connections to organized crime in Russia.
Authorities learned of Schwamkoff's alleged activities after a Massachusetts resident called the US Postal Service's Identity Fraud Unit this week and reported that someone was making purchases with her credit card and mailing the goods to a Mail Boxes Etc. location on Newbury Street. At least one other victim reported that goods were being sent there as well, police said.
Detectives from the Boston Police Special Investigations Unit staked out the Mail Boxes Etc. location Friday and observed a man retrieving three packages from a private mail box they were monitoring. They followed the man and observed him handing over the boxes to Schwamkoff in exchange for an envelope that was later found to contain $1,400 cash, police said.
At about 9:30 Friday night police entered Schwamkoff's home and seized dozens of items, including an underwater spear gun and computers, they believe were illegally purchased by phone or the Internet. They also found credit card-making equipment, blank credit cards, and a few dozen phony credit cards and driver's licenses from Massachusetts, Arizona, and other states embossed with Schwamkoff's photograph.
Authorities could not say when Schwamkoff set up his operation in Boston, adding that it could take months before they learn the identities of all his victims.
Schwamkoff is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow in Brighton District Court and probably will face charges in Georgia after he is prosecuted in Massachusetts, police said. He faces one count each of identity fraud, possession of counterfeit credit cards, larceny over $250, fraudulent use of a credit card, illegally altering a license, and buying, receiving, or concealing stolen property, police said.
