A Brooklyn resident's role in a plan to commit card fraud at multiple casinos may sound like the plot of an Ocean's Eleven movie, but the details are far more mundane.
Damiso Richard pleaded guilty Tuesday to theft charges in Will County, Ill., for his role in a scheme that targeted Chicago-area casinos, the Chicago Tribune
Richard was invited to the Chicago area to use counterfeit cards tied to bank accounts in Brazil. The background of the scheme led Judge Carla Alessio-Policandriotes to compare it to a movie plot, the article said.
Richard and an alleged accomplice, Zhong Lin, were accused of using the cards to get cash vouchers from automated teller machines in casinos, the Tribune reported. Prosecutors said the pair cashed the vouchers for $16,000 before they were stopped.
Though the international nature of the crime and the casino setting makes it seem like a Hollywood plot, the Tribune notes that it is common in card-fraud cases for international masterminds to hire low-level "mules" to take the risk of turning stolen card data into cash in the U.S.
A warrant has been issued for Lin, who has an address in Chicago and uses a Canadian driver's license, the article said.
