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Investigative Press Release
Feb
11
2020

Man Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Bank Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft

NEWARK, N.J. – An Essex County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 36 months in prison for his role in a scheme to use credit cards stolen by mail carriers from the mail, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Elhadj Fofana, 23, of Orange, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kathryn S. Hayden to an information charging him with bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Judge Hayden imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court: From July 2017 to February 2018, Fofana and others used credit cards that were stolen by mail carriers to make unauthorized purchases of retail goods, such as Apple MacBook Pro devices and other Apple products, throughout New Jersey and New York, causing financial losses to the banks that issued the credit cards. Olagoke Araromi and Moussa Dagno, who bribed the mail carriers to steal the credit cards from the mail that were used for the scheme were sentenced in October to prison terms for their roles in the scheme.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Hayden sentenced Fofana to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay restitution in the amount of $114,680. U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents with the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Matthew Modafferi, Northeast Area Field Office, and inspectors of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector in Charge James V. Buthorn in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.