An IT worker at a US bank has been indicted on
chargesincludingstealing the identities of 150 workersat theBank of New York Mellon,during an
eight-year crime spree.
Adeniyi Adeyemi of Brooklyn, who is 27, allegedly used the
stolen identities, mainly from IT workers, to steal over $1.1m from
institutions including charities.
According
to The New York County district attorney, Adeniyi Adeyemi used
his computer skills to steal money and hide it away in fake
accounts.
The New York County district attorney said Adeyemi was indicted
on charges of grand larceny, identity theft, money laundering,
scheme to defraud, computer tampering and unlawful possession of
personal identification information.
The crimes took place between November 1, 2001 and April 30,
2009.
"In the course of his tenure at Bank of New York, Adeyemi stole
the personal identifying information of dozens of Bank of New York
employees, mainly in the Information Technology Department where he
was assigned," said the district attorney.
The indictment alleges that Adeyemi used the employees' personal
identifiers to open over 30 bank and brokerage accounts with
several financial institutions.
These accounts were used to receive funds which were stolen from
the bank accounts of charities and non-profit organisations.
"In the interests of facilitating donations, many charities
readily disseminate their banking details on the Internet, making
them easy prey for unauthorised withdrawals by identity thieves,
particularly those with computer expertise such as Adeyemi," said
the district attorney. It said most of the theft was perpetrated
over the internet.