A Laurel man has been convicted in a card-skimming ring that prosecutors say ripped off at least 780 people.
A federal jury in Alexandria found 33-year-old Olubunmi Oladapo Komolafe guilty of conspiracy and aggravated identity theft charges.
Komolafe and four others led an identity-theft ring that stole credit card numbers from restaurant customers in the D.C. region. They recruited servers to swipe customers’ credit card numbers, re-encoded those numbers on credit and gift cards and used the cards to buy merchandise and additional gift cards at stores in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, according to prosecutors and court documents.
The group also recruited and paid “runners” to use the re-encoded credit and gift cards to buy merchandise and return previously purchased items for cash, according to court records.
The ring operated from January 2010 to June 2011 and left at least 780 victims.
The other four ring members have pleaded guilty for their roles in the scheme.
Komolafe faces up to nine-and-a-half years in prison when he is sentetnced on March 9.
