Officials: Philadelphia man sentenced to federal prison for causing more than $700K of losses in fraud scheme
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WILMINGTON, Del. - A Philadelphia man has been sentenced to time in federal prison for his involvement in a scheme involving gift cards, officials say.
According to the Department of Justice's District of Delaware, 39-year-old Mamadou Bah was sentenced to two years in federal prison for his involvement in a nationwide scheme to get over thousands of dollars in gift cards and merchandise from a nationwide home improvement store.
Court documents show Bah conducted over a thousand fraudulent transactions at home improvement stores across the country between May 2018 and June 2020 using the fake name Richard Traynham.
Officials say Bah would pay for gift cards and merchandise at home improvement stores using a barcode on his phone that was linked to fraudulent credit cards.
The DOJ says Bah caused losses of more than $733,000 across stores in 21 states.
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Bah pled guilty to aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory two-year sentence, officials say.
"Mr. Bah perpetrated a lucrative fraud for years through identity theft. By working with our law enforcement partners, my office was able to stop Mr. Bah from further fraud and secure a federal prison sentence. Those who think they can get away with stealing another person's identity information to defraud a retailer should learn from Mr. Bah. If convicted, a mandatory prison sentence awaits you," United States Attorney David C. Weiss said.
Those who believe they have fallen victim to a scam are asked to report the information to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center here.