NEW YORK – Charges were announced Thursday against seven members of an identity theft ring that hijacked over 180 people’s store credit accounts at Home Depot, Sears, Kmart, Kohl’s, and other retail stores to obtain over $1 million in merchandise, gift cards and store credits. They then resold the merchandise and gift cards for a profit. As part of the scheme, members of the ring allegedly manufactured driver’s licenses using the stolen identity information to impersonate the legitimate card holders at the stores.

“These individuals systematically victimized over 180 New Yorkers in an elaborate scheme to line their own pockets,” said Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. “Today’s arrests send a strong message to identity thieves in this state: they will be caught and prosecuted.”

The seven defendants arrested today include Phillip Smith, the ring’s leader; Melissa Morton, who allegedly impersonated female identity theft victims; Mahmoud Abdul Hussein, Ali Abdul Hussein, and Fadal Abdul Hussein – three brothers who allegedly manufactured fake driver’s licenses out of their storefront smoke shops in Greenwich Village - and Francis Hidalgo and Randy White, who are alleged to have resold the illegally obtained store credits or used them to buy material for their businesses. The defendants will be presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin Nathaniel Fox in Manhattan federal court later today.

“Identity theft is an insidious crime – its victims are often unaware they’ve been robbed until days or weeks later when they are hit with credit card bills for mysterious purchases made by criminal impersonators,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Preet Bharara. “Identity theft results in hundreds of millions of dollars in losses to unsuspecting victims and businesses, and victims may have to spend countless hours just to get their lives back in order.  As today’s arrests demonstrate, we hold no quarter for the alleged perpetrators of these crimes and will work with our state and federal law enforcement partners to bring them to justice.”