Man stole special agent’s identity, executed a complex identity theft scheme

Rohit Jawa, 25, formerly of Cincinnati, Ohio, pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with eight counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.

Based on court documents, from at least February 2013 through June 16, 2015, Jawa devised and executed a complex identity theft scheme to defraud financial institutions, insurance companies, and others. He managed numerous PayPal accounts that were engaged in a scheme to defraud eBay buyers and eBay’s third-party parcel insurance company.

During this period, the defendant repeatedly transferred money representing the proceeds of his fraud scheme from and between accounts he controlled in victim names to accounts he controlled in his own name.

In connection with this scheme, Jawa stole the identity of a Special Agent of the United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS-OIG), and then used that identity to fraudulently gain access to law enforcement databases from which he stole personal identifying information of multiple victims.

Jawa then used the identifying information of those individuals to open further fraudulent financial accounts in their names, without their knowledge or consent.

Jawa was indicted by a federal grand jury on Aug. 13, 2015. He faces a mandatory minimum of two years in prison and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison when sentenced on Feb. 12, 2016.

The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.