Fredrick Brown, a former US military contractor, was sentenced to 151 months in prison for his role in an international scheme that targeted thousands of US soldiers and veterans and caused millions of dollars in losses.
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Brown was one of five fraudsters accused of carrying out a theft and fraud scheme that targeted “service members (active duty, reserve and National Guard) and veterans, their dependents and civilians employed by the Department of Defense,” according to the charges.
Brown confessed to his role in the international fraud ring in October 2019 and admitted to stealing personally identifiable information (PII) from thousands of military members between July 2014 and September 2015, including “their names, Social Security numbers, DOD ID numbers, dates of birth , and contact information.”
He collected PII by taking screenshots of their screen while they were logged into their account on the Armed Forces Health Technology Application.
“Theft of personally identifiable information can significantly harm our military members, veterans, and their families,” said Special Representative Kenneth A. DeChellis of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General.
Brown provided the stolen data to co-defendant Robert Wayne Boling Jr. Boling and other members of the ring, who then used the information to create and compromise the Defense Self-Service Connection accounts of military personnel.
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This allowed members of the ring to access the benefits information of the US military community through the Department of Defense portal and steal millions of dollars from veterans' retirement and disability pension payments and US military bank accounts.
"The defendant brazenly preyed on his victims, American service members and veterans, many of whom were disabled and elderly," said U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff. "As part of our mission, we strive to protect these honest men and women from fraud and abuse."
"The victims included at least eight general officers, as well as numerous disabled veterans, who were targeted because they received greater service-related benefits," the Justice Department added.
In addition, the defendants used various bank accounts and money transfers for financial transactions aimed at concealing and laundering the stolen funds.
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Brown and the other co-defendants were charged with multiple offenses including conspiracy, fraud and aggravated identity theft.
In addition to the 151-month prison sentence, Brown was also ordered to pay $2,331,639.85 in restitution and will be placed on probation for three years after his release.
Source: BleepingComputer
